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PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


SIDNEY  D.  GAMBLE 


STITCHING  SOLES. 


Leather  being  scarce  most  of  North  China's  shoes  are  made  of  cloth.  Water 
is  hard  on  them,  sc  in  wet  weather  it  is  a  choice  of  stay  home,  ruin  your 
shoes  or  wear  heavy  shoes  with  wood  soles. 


PEKING 

A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

Conducted  under  the  auspices  of 
THE  PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY  CENTER  IN  CHINA 

and 
THE  PEKING  YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION 

BY 

SIDNEY  D.  GAMBLE,  M.A. 

ASSISTED   BY 

JOHN  STEWART  BURGESS,  M.A. 

FOREWORD   BY 

G.  SHERWOOD  EDDY 

AND 

ROBERT  A.  WOODS 


NEW  ^SJT  YORK 
GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,    1921, 
BY  GEORGE   H.   DORAN   COMPANY 


PRINTED  IN  THE   UNITED   STATES   OF  AMERICA 


DEDICATED 
TO 

THE  MISSIONARIES 

WHOSE  WORK  HAS  MADE 
THIS  STUDY  POSSIBLE 


FOREWORD 

The  social  survey  of  Peking  marks  a  milestone  of  advance 
for  the  Continent  of  Asia.  Constantinople  and  other  centers  are 
already  following  the  example  of  Peking  in  making  thorough 
social  surveys.  We  must  know  our  problems  before  we  solve 
them.  We  must  know  the  present  reality  before  we  seek  to 
rebuild  in  the  light  of  an  ideal. 

The  timeliness  of  this  survey  is  significant.  China  is  in  the 
midst  of  a  vast  transition,  and  it  is  essential  that  the  Orient,  as 
far  as  possible,  be  saved  from  the  costly  mistakes  made  by  the 
Occident.  We  have  learned  after  slow  centuries  of  effort  to 
coordinate  the  personal  and  the  social.  Between  these  two  poles 
of  truth  flows  the  current  of  life,  and  we  must  recognize  this 
polarity.  It  is  not  enough  to  change  the  social  environment, 
wages,  hours,  conditions,  and  material  prosperity.  If  the  hearts 
of  men  are  selfish  and  sordid,  no  change  in  outward  environment, 
no  program  or  panacea  of  social  reform  can  regenerate  the 
nation.  We  must  change  the  heart,  regenerate  the  individual  and 
also  change  the  environment,  and  both  processes  must  be  simul- 
taneous and  continuous.  Neither  the  personal  nor  the  social 
transformation  alone  will  be  sufficient.  It  is  not  enough,  for  in- 
stance, to  save  the  souls  of  a  few  slaves  if  the  social  institution 
of  Slavery  is  dragging  down  its  millions.  It  is  not  enough  to  save  , 
a  few  drunkards,  if  the  spciaLeyiLpf  drink  is  ruining  multitudes. 
It  is  not  enough  to  save  a  few  individuals  from  the  gutter  or  the 
city  slum,  or  the  abyss  of  social  injustice,  if  the  social  evils  of 
poverty,  child  labor,  inhuman  conditions  for  women  and  the 
ruin  of  manhood  continue  in  a  social  order  fundamentally  in- 
human and  un-Christian.  Mr.  Gamble,  Mr.  Burgess,  and  the 
leaders  of  the  social  survey  in  Peking  recognize  this  polarity  of 
truth,  this  relation  of  the  personal  and  the  social.  This  survey 
is  the  result. 

An  army  of  more  than  six  thousand  missionaries  and  23,000 
Chinese  workers  is  striving  to  change  the  hearts  of  men,  and 
in  the  evangelistic  and  educational  missions  in  China  the  primary 
emphasis  is  placed  upon  personal  regeneration.  There  is  urgent 
need,  however,  for  the  social  application  of  Christian  principles 
upon  the  mission  field.  First  of  all,  the  membership  of  the  infant 

vii 


viii  FOREWORD 

Church  needs  a  social  Gospel  both  as  a  field  and  as  a  force  for 
social  service.  The  Christian  forces  must  be  the  leaders  in  the 
development  of  new  and  higher  types  of  life  in  other  lands.  The 
timeliness  of  the  Peking  Survey  is  further  emphasized  by  the 
fact  that  the  Church  at  home  is  beginning  to  realize  the  impor- 
tance of  social  and  industrial  problems  and  by  the  rapid  social 
changes  occurring  in  China  itself,  of  which  the  following  pages 
give  evidence. 

Occupied,  as  most  missionaries  are,  with  their  own  important 
evangelistic,  educational,  medical  or  personal  service,  and  busy  as 
the  members  of  the  native  Church  are  in  the  struggle  for  sub- 
sistence, it  is  imperative  that  specially  trained  men  and  women 
should  be  set  apart  for  social  service,  for  the  making  of  surveys, 
the  creation  of  a  new  social  consciousness,  the  imparting  of  social 
dynamic,  and  for  leadership  in  the  transformation  of  these  con- 
gested centers  of  Oriental  life.  Thoroughly  trained  leaders  are 
needed  to  develop  practical  programs  and  to  furnish  the  Church 
with  an  adequate  social  expression.  They  are  also  needed  to 
furnish  an  invaluable  point  of  contact  with  the  educated  leaders 
of  the  non-Christian  community  and  other  forces  willing  to 
cooperate  for  social  betterment  and  for  the  work  of  social  reform 
so  deeply  needed  in  China  and  other  lands  to-day.  It  is  neces- 
sary that  trained  specialists  be  set  apart  for  this  task,  as  the 
present  missionary  force  has  neither  the  time  nor  training  for 
the  work,  and  it  is  not  likely  that  American  methods  can  be 
directly  applied  to  China,  but  will  have  to  be  modified  and 
adapted  to  the  different  conditions  of  the  Orient.  The  field  is 
wide  open  to-day.  Will  the  Church  and  mission  forces  occupy 
that  field  or  will  they  forfeit  their  opportunity  and  let  civiliza- 
tion develop  without  Christian  leadership? 

If  the  missionary  goes  not  merely  to  rescue  a  few  individuals, 
but  with  the  wide  vision  and  the  bold  faith  of  seeking  first  noth- 
ing less  than  the  Kingdom  of  God,  that  His  will  may  be  done 
on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  Heaven,  that  the  whole  Gospel  may  be 
applied  to  the  whole  of  life  and  all  its  relationships — political, 
social  and  industrial,  as  well  as  religious — the  significance  of  this 
social  survey  will  be  apparent  to  its  readers.  May  it  be  the  fore- 
runner of  many  similar  undertakings,  and  may  these  surveys  lead 
to  action,  to  reform,  to  social  reconstruction,  to  the  building  of 
the  City  of  God  in  the  midst  of  the  poverty,  the  slums,  and  the 
wreckage  of  manhood  and  womanhood  and  childhood  in  the  vast 
congested  population  of  the  cities  of  the  Orient. 

G.  SHERWOOD  EDDY. 


FOREWORD 

This  ordered  study  of  realities  in  the  great  capital  of  the 
Orient  will  serve  to  bring  its  ongoing  life  within  range  of  all  who 
are  familiar  with  the  point  of  view  of  the  social  constructors. 
It  clears  away  much  of  what  has  seemed  to  be  inscrutable.  It 
brings  surprise  not  so  much  by  what  is  strange  as  by  the 
essentially  familiar  human  lineaments  which  it  discloses.  It  offers 
many  interesting  points  for  comparison  with  western  ways.  The 
student  of  social  evolution  will  find  the  like  of  many  ethical 
and  industrial  institutions  and  customs  as  they  flourished  at 
various  stages  of  European  history.  If  we  can  believe  that  a 
nation  can  progress  without  a  military  front,  and  can  pass  from 
the  gild  system  over  into  a  cooperative  form  of  industry,  here 
is  the  beginning  of  the  method.  Some  of  the  right  starting  points 
are  set  out  for  what  may  be  the  most  momentous  racial  develop- 
ment of  the  third  millennium  of  the  Christian  era,  as  that  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  has  been  of  the  second. 

It  is  certain  that  this  presentation,  with  the  organization  of 
forces  to  which  its  preparation  has  already  led,  will  find  a  clear 
and  sure  welcome  from  the  increasing  number  of  modern-minded 
leaders  in  the  organized  life  of  the  Chinese  cities  upon  whom, 
whether  as  officials  or  private  citizens,  the  reconstruction  of  the 
nation  so  largely  depends.  The  preparation  of  the  study  itself 
has  opened  the  way  in  Peking  for  new  common  interests  among 
many  organizations  and  many  kinds  of  people ;  and  its  inevitable 
indications  must  lead  to  many  more  of  such  new  common  under- 
standings and  enterprises  as  will  make  a  basis  not  only  for  local 
well  being  but  for  that  national  coherence  upon  which  the  future 
of  the  four  hundred  millions  so  largely  depends. 

The  Survey  comes  at  a  moment  of  peculiar  exigency  and 
potency.  The  broad  wave  of  the  new  learning  is  spreading  over 
the  land.  The  first  fruits  of  modern  education,  in  the  impartation 
of  which  America  has  had  so  large  and  fine  a  share,  are  beginning 
to  be  apparent  and  influential.  The  present  patient,  luminous 
disclosure  of  opportunity  of  many  sorts  for  the  advancement  of 
the  cause  of  the  people  and  for  equipping  them  with  more  of  the 
resources  of  life,  must  give  not  a  few  clues  to  a  new  generation 
of  educated  young  men  and  women  with  a  zest  for  patriotism 

ix 


x  FOREWORD 

of  which  the  rest  of  the  world  at  this  moment  cannot  present  the 
equal. 

Those  who  have  prepared  the  Survey  have  worked  in  the 
light  of  a  peculiar  and  well  justified  confidence.  They  know  that 
China  is  in  the  deepest  need  of  that  to  which  this  diagnosis 
should  lead ;  and  they  know  equally  well  that  a  great  part  of  the 
capable  leadership  of  the  Chinese  people  not  only  is  conscious  of 
the  need,  but  is  ready  to  welcome  right-minded  help  from  the 
West  in  meeting  it.  It  is  indeed  a  moving  experience  to  find  how 
simply  and  ingenuously  the  friendly  and  informed  American 
overture  is  received  by  the  best  of  the  Chinese. 

Surprisingly  often  this  recognition  of  need  goes  with  an 
acknowledgment  of  Christian  motive  as  the  power  through  which 
the  need  can  be  met.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  introduction 
of  well  considered  social  work  into  the  missionary  program  in 
China  represents  the  next  step  in  the  strategy  of  a  cause  before 
which  lies  an  available  opportunity  comparable  to  that  which 
was  presented  by  the  later  Roman  Empire.  These  pages  suggest 
the  attitude  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  members  of  the  mission 
staffs,  their  eagerness  to  adapt  every  working  principle  and  method 
to  the  spirit  and  habit  of  the  country,  to  join  hands  with  every 
person  of  good  will,  and  to  go  to  the  help  of  all  who  are  burdened. 
Readers  of  this  book  will  begin  to  appreciate  Professor  Ross's 
estimate  of  the  American  missionaries  in  China :  "picked,  trained 
men,  equal  in  character  and  learning  to  any  body  of  apostles  that 
ever  carried  a  faith  to  an  alien  people."* 

The  human  reconstruction  of  China  must  engage  a  varied 
leadership:  missionaries  who,  deeply  convinced,  may  return  for 
special  study  and  preparation;  new  recruits  from  among  trained 
social  workers  in  America  who  shall  feel  that  they  serve  their 
own  country  none  the  less  in  going  as  its  representatives  in  a 
great  moral  adventure ;  established  Chinese  citizens,  and  especially 
Christian  laymen  who  shall  come  to  have  concrete,  living  ex- 
perience of  the  meaning  of  their  faith ;  above  all,  Chinese  students, 
men  and  women,  in  American  colleges  and  in  those  several  spirited 
reproductions  of  them  which  are  being  built  up  in  China.  The 
Survey  represents  one  example,  of  many  that  might  be  given,  to 
show  that  such  different  approaches  are  already  leading  into  a 
common  loyalty.  It  is  particularly  interesting  that  all  of  these 
types  of  persons  are  already  joined  together  in  a  project  for  cen- 
tralizing the  study  of  social  conditions  and  preparation  for  social 
work  for  Peking  in  the  noble  university  which  is  being  built  up 
by  the  united  Christian  forces  in  the  capital  city. 

*  The  Changing  Chinese,  p.  258. 


FOREWORD  xi 

The  great  humanitarian  demands  of  Europe  upon  America 
are  subsiding.  The  awakened  instinct  for  world  service  must 
not  and  will  not  subside.  China  is  calling.  The  vastest  of  the 
republics  is  in  the  making.  The  United  States  has  proudly 
espoused  the  duty  of  protecting  China.  She  must  above  all  be 
protected  from  within. 

ROBERT  A.  WOODS. 


PREFACE 

"People  often  say  that  they  are  talking  against  a  background 
of  facts.  In  China  there  is  no  background  and  there  are  no  facts." 
So  says  Dr.  Arthur  H.  Smith  after  forty-seven  years'  resi- 
dence in  China,  and  it  takes  only  a  slight  experience  to  make  one 
believe  that  Dr.  Smith  is  correct.  There  is  a  wealth  of  generality 
concerning  things  Chinese  but  very  little  detail.  It  was  with  the 
hope  of  supplying  some  of  this  missing  detail  that  this  survey  was 
undertaken.  But  how  to  get  the  facts  ?  General  observation  had 
been  used  with  the  above  result.  The  survey  method  had  been 
successful  in  American  cities,  but  so  far  as  we  could  find  no  one 
had  ever  tried  to  use  this  method  in  studying  an  oriental  city. 
Can  it  be  used  in  a  Chinese  city?  Will  the  people  answer  cor- 
rectly the  many  questions  that  will  have  to  be  asked  ?  In  the  past 
the  Chinese  have  been  suspicious  of  the  foreigner  and  all  his 
ways.  It  used  to  be  a  superstition  that  it  was  bad  luck  to  give' 
information  concerning  your  family  or  business  to  a  stranger  or 
even  to  a  government  official.  But  do  these  conditions  still  pre- 
vail ?  Haven't  the  many  changes  of  the  past  years  made  it  possible 
for  foreigners  to  use  successfully  a  foreign  method  in  making  a 
study  of  a  far  eastern  city?  These  were  the  questions  that  we 
faced  as  we  considered  making  a  survey  of  Peking.  However, 
the  thought  of  making  a  study  of  the  temple  and  palace  filled, 
walled  city  that  had  been  the  capital  of  the  old  Chinese  Empire 
and  was  still  the  center  of  Chinese  political  and  educational  life 
made  the  experiment  seem  worth  while  even  though  it  might 
secure  only  a  small  amount  of  information. 

Peking  was  chosen  for  study  because  it  is  the  capital  of  China 
and  the  center  of  so  much  Chinese  life;  because,  if  we  should  be 
successful,  our  experiment  would  probably  have  a  nation-wide 
influence  and  the  chances  of  success  seemed  to  be  better  there 
than  in  any  other  Chinese  city.  In  Shanghai,  Hankow,  Tientsin 
and  some  of  the  other  treaty  ports,  the  people  had  perhaps  had 
more  contact  with  foreigners  than  in  Peking,  but  those  could 
hardly  be  called  Chinese  cities.  In  this  connection  it  must  be 
remembered  that  what  is  true  of  Peking  is  not  necessarily  true  of 
other  parts  of  China.  Conditions  are  very  different  in  different 
parts  of  the  country. 

xiii 


xiv  PREFACE 

The  Peking  survey  in  its  inception  was  very  frankly  an  experi- 
ment, though  one  or  two  small  studies,  one  of  the  labor  gilds  in 
Hangchow,  Chekiang,  and  the  other  of  some  ricksha  coolies  in 
Peking,  made  us  feel  certain  that  we  could  secure  some  informa- 
tion in  three  or  four  fields.  It  was  such  an  experiment  that  it 
could  not  command  either  a  large  budget  or  a  large  staff.  We 
could  not  ask  that  other  people  be  released  from  their  regular 
work  to  assist  in  it  and  even  we  could  not  give  our  entire  time  to 
it.  All  expenses  had  to  be  met  privately  except  for  one  contribu- 
tion of  $100.  The  work  was  done,  however,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Peking  Chinese  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and 
the  Princeton  University  Center  in  China. 

In  making  the  survey  we  found  the  foreigners  interested  and 
glad  to  cooperate  and  the  Chinese  most  willing  to  give  us  detailed 
information  concerning  the  various  phases  of  their  life.  Officials 
gave  us  every  opportunity  to  investigate  the  work  of  the  govern- 
mental agencies  and  access  a,  much  of  their  information  concern- 
ing the  city.  Business  men  and  others  answered  numerous  de- 
tailed questionnaires.  As  the  work  progressed  we  found  fields 
opening  to  us  that  originally  we  had  not  planned  to  attempt. 
More  and  more  people  were  enlisted  to  help  in  gathering  data  and 
it  seemed  best  to  enlarge  the  scope  of  the  survey  and  extend  the 
time  for  its  completion.  Field  work  started  in  September,  1918, 
and  was  finally  completed  in  December,  1919. 

It  was  evident  from  the  start  that,  aside  from  special  calls  and 
interviews,  we  personally  would  not  be  able  to  do  any  great 
amount  of  field  work,  and  that  most  of  the  material  would  have 
to  be  gathered  by  Chinese  investigators  working  with  question- 
naires. We  were  fortunate  in  securing  as  our  chief  field  workers, 
Mr.  C.  H.  Chen,  an  American  returned  student,  who  had  been  in 
business  in  Peking  and  was  in  close  touch  with  the  industrial  life 
of  the  city,  and  Mr.  Liang  Tsai  Chih,  who  as  a  member  of  the 
local  Board  of  Education  was  familiar  with  the  educational  life 
of  the  city,  and  as  author  of  the  Peking  Guide  Book  could  give 
us  many  valuable  facts.  On  special  studies,  we  were  assisted  by 
the  officers  and  members  of  the  Congregational  churches,  by  the 
students  of  the  Peking  (Union)  University  and  by  a  seminar  of 
the  students  of  the  North  China  Union  Language  School,  for- 
eigners studying  the  Chinese  language  preparatory  to  active  mis- 
sion work.  We  were  also  given  access  to  the  reports  of  some  of 
the  Government  Boards,  and  from  these  secured  many  funda- 
mental statistics  concerning  the  life  of  the  city.  In  order  that 
full  statistical  tables  may  be  available  they  have  been  put  in  the 
appendix  rather  than  in  the  text,  and  the  figures  for  the  different 
police  districts,  etc.,  are  given  so  that  those  who  are  working  in 
different  parts  of  the  city  may  have  the  figures  for  their  own 


PREFACE  xv 

particular  district   and  be  able  to  plan  their   work  accordingly. 

Other  problems  connected  with  the  survey  were  those  always 
present  where  work  must  be  done  in  two  languages.  Question- 
naires had  to  be  translated  into  Chinese  and  reports  into  English. 
The  terms  on  one  questionnaire  were  discussed  for  over  two 
hours  by  a  group  of  Chinese  who  knew  English  well,  and  for- 
eigners who  were  expert  in  the  Chinese  language,  and  even  then 
the  results  showed  that  the  entire  meaning  of  the  English  terms 
had  not  been  put  into  Chinese.  It  was  also  difficult  to  find  men 
who  could  make  accurate  tabulations,  figure  percentages,  etc.,  and 
practically  all  of  that  detail  had  to  be  carried  by  the  authors. 

As  the  survey  has  been  a  study  of  present  day  social  condi- 
tions, we  have  made  practically  no  attempt  to  go  into  the  records 
of  the  past.  A  personal  study  of  the  Chinese  documents  was 
impossible  because  of  the  language  barrier.  Material  concerning 
Peking,  in  a  language  other  than  Chinese,  is  scarce,  and  practically 
none  is  of  recent  date.  The  study  of  published  material  concern- 
ing other  cities  in  China  would  be  of  little  value.  Where  we  have 
included  historical  data  we  have  had  to  depend  for  most  of  it 
upon  those  who  have  made  special  studies  of  the  records.  We 
have,  however,  found  valuable  material  in  the  following  books : 
Favier,  Peking;  Morache,  Pekin  et  ses  Habitants;  Encyclopedia 
Sinica;  China  Year  Book  1919;  1919  and  1920  Supplements  of  the 
Peking  Leader;  Thomas  Cook  and  Sons,  Peking;  Imperial  Jap- 
anese Railway  Guide,  China.  The  article  by  Macgowan  on  the 
Chinese  gilds  in  the  Journal  of  the  North  China  branch  of  the 
Royal  Asiatic  Society,  1886,  and  Morse's  book,  The  Gilds  of 
China,  have  only  been  suggestive  as  they  deal  with  the  gilds  of 
Central  China. 

We  have  used  the  silver  dollar  as  the  standard  of  value  unless 
otherwise  noted  as  it  is  the  standard  ordinarily  used  in  Peking. 
The  tael  is  an  uncoined  standard  used  in  commerce.  Its  value 
in  terms  of  the  dollar  fluctuates  somewhat  but  is  ordinarily  be- 
tween $1.35  and  $1.45.  In  terms  of  the  gold  dollar  the  value  of 
the  silver  dollar  is  constantly  changing.  The  usually  accepted 
standard  value  is  50  cents  but  during  the  making  of  the  survey 
varied  from  80  cents  to  $1.33. 

We  have  tried  to  judge  the  social  conditions  in  Peking  accord- 
ing to  the  progress  that  they  show.  Since  China  is  in  a  period  of 
transition,  and  one  cannot  help  marveling  at  the  changes  that  began 
with  the  Revolution  of  1911,  it  would  not  be  fair  to  judge 
her  life  according  to  western  ideals.  If  we  have  compared  things 
in  Peking  with  the  best  in  western  life,  it  is  not  to  criticize  so 
much  as  to  point  out  what  we  would  like  to  see  done  in  China.  It 
is  our  hope  that  Peking  and  China  may  profit  by  the  experience 
of  other  countries  and  be  saved  many  of  their  mistakes.  Since 


xvi  PREFACE 

so  much  progress  has  been  made  in  the  past  few  years,  the  Chinese 
ought  not  to  be  willing  to  stop  short  of  the  best. 

Our  study  has  given  us  a  great  love  for  the  Chinese  and  the 
firm  belief  that  if  given  time  and  friendly  help  they  will  be  able 
to  work  out  the  many  social  problems  they  are  now  facing.  The 
pressing  questions  to  be  answered  by  those  of  the  west  are :  Will 
American  and  European  nations  help  or  hinder  Chinese  social 
progress  in  this  transitional  stage?  Will  methods  and  ideas 
crystallize  in  China  before  we  of  the  west  have  made  our  best 
contribution  to  her  changing  social  life,  a  contribution  based  on 
the  knowledge  gained  from  our  mistakes  as  well  as  our  successes  ? 

Although  many  people  have  been  interested  and  helped  with 
the  survey,  we  feel  that  for  the  best  results  it  has  been  too  much 
in  the  hands  of  one  or  two  people.  This,  however,  was  necessary 
as  the  first  survey  of  a  Chinese  city  was  an  experiment  that  had 
to  be  worked  out  by  a  few  people  before  others  could  be  asked  to 
help.  In  any  study  the  detail  must  be  looked  after  by  one  or  two 
persons,  but  if  a  group  of  people  do  not  become  vitally  interested 
in  the  problems  studied  the  survey  will  be  productive  of  only  small 
results,  particularly  if  the  one  directing  the  study  leaves  after  its 
completion  and  there  is  no  one  to  continue  working  on  the  prob- 
lems that  the  survey  has  discovered.  If  another  Chinese  city  is 
surveyed  we  hope  that  the  study  will  be  made  by  a  fairly  large 
and  representative  committee  and  that  the  various  fields  will  be 
studied  by  small  groups.  In  this  way  the  problems  of  the  city  will 
be  investigated  and  there  will  be  groups  of  people  interested  in 
seeing  that  some  solution  is  worked  out  for  them.  The  mechanics 
and  details  of  the  survey  can  be  handled  by  a  director ;  but  only 
when  the  conclusions  are  based  upon  the  experience  and  knowl- 
edge of  a  fairly  large  number  of  people  as  well  as  on  the  reports 
of  technical  investigation  will  they  have  their  highest  practical 
value.  Our  experience  with  a  group  of  Peking  (Union)  Univer- 
sity students  is  a  case  in  point.  They  were  not  only  able  to  gather 
valuable  information,  but  at  the  same  time  they  had  a  glimpse  of 
what  life  means  for  some  unfortunates.  We  certainly  hope  that 
the  making  of  the  survey  of  the  church  members  has  given  those 
who  helped  in  the  study  a  greater  interest  in  the  church  and  its 
problems. 

It  is  our  hope  that  this  is  the  first  of  many  studies  of  Chinese 
cities.  The  west  needs  to  know  more  about  China  and  Chinese 
life,  and  those  who  are  living  and  working  in  the  country  need 
accurate  information  in  order  to  wisely  plan  their  work.  We 
realize  that  a  complete  survey  of  a  city  involves  not  only  consider- 
able time  and  expense,  but  many  of  the  more  particularly  valuable 
studies,  survey  of  church  membership,  the  study  of  a  small  dis- 
trict, an  investigation  of  the  amount  of  poverty  and  philanthropy 


PREFACE  xvii 

can  be  made  fairly  easily  and  with  little  expense,  some  for  print- 
ing and,  if  necessary,  some  for  the  translation  of  official  docu- 
ments. We  have  included  copies  of  our  questionnaires  in  the 
appendix  with  the  hope  that  they  may  be  useful  to  others.  A 
great  many  suggestions  for  survey  work  can  be  found  in  the 
books  and  pamphlets  listed  in  the  survey  bibliography  of  the  Rus- 
sell Sage  Foundation. 

We  want  to  acknowledge  our  indebtedness  to  Dr.  G.  D. 
Wilder,  the  missionaries  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners 
for  Foreign  Missions  and  the  officers  and  members  of  the  Teng 
Shih  K'ou,  Pei  T'ang  and  Ch'i  Hua  Men  Churches,  who  made 
possible  the  survey  of  the  membership  of  the  three  churches ;  toN 
Mrs.  Fannie  S.  Wickes  and  The  Survey  for  permission  to  use  the 
article,  "My  Nearest  Neighbors  in  Peking/'  which  gives  a  de- 
tailed description  of  some  families  living  near  the  American  Board 
church  in  the  district  for  which  we  were  able  to  secure  the  general 
statistics ;  to  Mr.  C.  B.  Malone  of  the  Department  of  History  of 
Tsing  Hua  College  for  the  outline  of  his  lecture,  "The  History  of 
Peking" ;  to  Dr^  L. K^Tap  of  the  Department  of  Sociology  of  the 
Peking  (Government)  University  for  material  concerning  the 
background  of  Chinese  philanthropy ;  to  Prof.  C.  G.  Dittmer  and 
the  Harvard  University  Press  for  permission  to  quote  from  "An 
Estimate  of  the  Chinese  Standard  of  Living,"  Quarterly  Journal 
of  Economics,  November,  1918;  to  Dr.  W.  G.  Lennox  for  per- 
mission to  use  the  figures  in  his  article,  "Some  Vital  Statistics," 
China  Medical  Journal,  July,  1919;  to  Mrs.  A.  E.  St.  Clair,  Miss 
Vera  Holmes,  Mr.  L.  G.  Bates  and  Mr.  H.  Ray  Sweetman  for 
valuable  seminar  material;  to  Dr.  Hu  Suh  of  the  Government 
Unfversity,  for  valuable  material  and  information  concerning  the 
Rennaissance  Movement;  to  the  students  of  the  Peking  (Union) 
University  who  helped  in  the  study  of  the  philanthropic  institu- 
tions of  the  city;  to  Gen.  Wu  Ping  Hsiang,  the  head  of  the  Police 
Board,  for  a  copy  of  the  police  report ;  to  Mr.  Shen,  Captain  of 
Police  District  Inside  Left  2,  for  a  transcript  of  the  census 
statistics  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  district;  to  Mr.  Teng  Yu  An, 
Captain  of  Police  District  Inside  Left  I,  for  valuable  assistance; 
for  special  permission  to  print  the  national  regulations  for  Cham- 
bers of  Commerce  translated  by  W.  S.  Howe  of  the  American 
Consular  Service;  to  Dr.  W.  B.  Hill  for  help  in  preparation  of 
the  manuscript,  and  to  many  others  who  by  their  interest  and  help 
have  made  the  survey  possible. 

S.  D.  G. 
J.  S.  B. 


CONTENTS 


FOREWORDS  BY  G.  SHERWOOD  EDDY  AND  ROBERT  A. 


PREFACE       

CHAPTI 

• 

I 

...       25 

II 

...       44 

III 

...       51 

IV 

...       65 

V 

...       91 

VI 

.     .     .     114 

VII 

...     128 

.  VIII 

COMMERCIAL  LIFE       

...     163 

IX 

RECREATION      

...     223 

X 

THE  SOCIAL  EVIL    

.     .     .     242 

XI 

POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY     .     .     . 

...     264 

XII 

PRISONS        

...     307 

XIII 

TENG  SHIH  K'ou  DISTRICT    .... 

...     321 

XIV 

MY  NEAREST  NEIGHBORS  IN  PEKING    . 

•     •     -     33i 

XV 

•     •     •     335 

XVI 

RELIGIOUS  WORK    

...     368 

XVII 

PEKING  COMMUNITY  SERVICE  GROUP    . 

...     393 

APPENDICES 

...     405 

,' 


XIX 


CONTENTS 

FACE 

III:    POPULATION 412 

IV:     HEALTH 417 

V:    EDUCATION 420 

VI:     COMMERCIAL  LIFE 430 

VII:     RECREATION 475 

VIII:     THE  SOCIAL  EVIL 477 

TX :  POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY    ....  486 

X:  TENG  SHIH  K'ou  DISTRICT      ....  488 

XI:     CHURCH  SURVEY 497 

XII:     RELIGIOUS  WORK 511 

XIII:     QUESTIONNAIRES 517 

INDEX < 525 


ILLUSTRATIONS,  MAPS  AND  DIAGRAMS 

ILLUSTRATIONS 
Stitching  Soles Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Dressed  for  the  Dragon  Festival 30 

A  Well-to-do  Aristocrat .  31 

Peking  Wall  and  Moat 46 

Gateway  to  Former  Imperial  Palace 46 

T'ai  Ho  Tien.     Imperial  Throne  Room 47 

Gateway  to  Forbidden  City 47 

Mule  Litter 62 

One  of  Peking's  4, 1 98  Indestructible  Carts 62 

Camel  Transportation 63 

Student  Demonstrations,  June  4th  and  5th,  1919    .      .     .     .  78 

Arrested  Students  Going  to  Jail 79 

Student  Guard  at  Government  Law  School,  the  Student  Jail  .  79 

One  of  Peking's  Smells .      .      .  118 

Old  Style  "Running  Water"  System 118 

A  Professional  Beggar 119 

The  Blind  Working  for  the  Blind 150 

Spreading  Modern  Ideas  Among  the  Common  People   .     .     .  150 

Industrial  Education.     National  Teachers'  College     .      .     .  151 

Cloissone  Making 206 

Not  Even  a  Potter's  Wheel  to  Make  Stoves 206 

Government  Uniform  Factory 207 

Wondering  Which  Girl  He  Would  Like  to  Have  for  a  Wife  254 

Rescued  Slave  Girls 254 

Prostitutes'  Advertising 255 

Sure  of  One  Hot  Meal  on  a  Cold  Day 270 

A  Typical  Beggar  Family 270 

Moving  Day 271 

The  Foundlings'   Home 286 


xxii      ILLUSTRATIONS,  MAPS  AND  DIAGRAMS 


PAGE 


The  Five  Nations  Poor  House 286 

Industrial  Training 287 

Rickshaw  Shelter 302 

Reform  School  Dormitory 302 

No  More  Worries.  Cared  for  by  the  Poorhouse  ....  303 

Old  Style  Prison  Cell 310 

Making  Match  Boxes.  Model  Prison  Workshop  ....  310 

Peking  Model  Prison,  the  First  of  39  in  China  .  .  .  .  311 
The  Five  Teachers,  Christ,  Lao  Tze,  Confucius,  John  Howard, 

Mohammed .311 

The  Slaughter  House  Sign,  Pig  Bladders 326 

Delivering  Live-stock  in  Peking 326 

Teng  Shih  K'ou  Church 327 

Bow  and  Arrow  Street 327 

Yellow  Lama  Priest 382 

The  Temple  Court— Quiet  Save  for  the  Tinkle  of  the  Wind 

Bell 383 

Street  Chapel 398 

The  Peking  Chinese  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  .  .  398 

Two  Little  Maids  from  School 399 


MAPS  AND  DIAGRAMS 

1  Peking  Under  Different  Dynasties 47 

2  Chihli  Province 53 

3  City  Districts 57 

4  Government 67 

5  Population — Density 95 

6  Percent  Male 100 

7  Peking  and  American  Cities — Ages  by  Five-Year  Age 

Groups 103 

8  Peking  Church   Families — Percent  in   Five-Year  Age 

Groups 104 

9  Boston.     Age  and   Sex.     Number  in  Five-Year  Age 

Groups 105 

IO    Philadelphia.     Age  and  Sex.     Number  in   Five-Year 

Age  Groups 106 


ILLUSTRATIONS,  MAPS  AND  DIAGRAMS     xxiii 

CURE  PAGE 

11  Peking  Population.     Age  and  Sex.     Number  in  Five- 

Year  Age  Group 107 

12  Church  Families.    Age  and  Sex.    Number  in  Five- Year 

Age  Groups 108 

13  Sewers 123 

14  Higher  Schools 135 

15  Boys'  Primary  School ....  137 

1 6  Girls'  Primary  School 139 

17  Extension  Education 149 

1 8  Banks,  Markets  and  Factories 214 

19  Recreation 225 

20  Hotels 231 

21  Poverty 272 

22  Philanthropic  Institutions 284 

23  Teng  Shih  K'ou  District 323 

24  Church  Survey  Card 337 

25  Number  of  Families  and  Individuals 339 

26  Size  of  Families 340 

27  Distribution  by  Race 341 

28  Distribution  by  Sex     ..........  342 

29  Age  Distribution .      ....  343 

30  Age  and  Sex 345 

31  Marital  Condition      .......     ;.:     ...  346 

32  Incomes 350 

33  Rent  Per  Room  Per  Month    .      .      .     -.-     .      .      .      .  355 

34  Persons  Per  Room      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .  357 

35  Education   ... 359 

36  Church  Relationships 362 

37  Temples      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .     >.,    ,.      .      .  371 

38  Mission  Work      ....      .:    >;    >;    :.     >:    :.      .  379 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTION  AND  CONCLUSIONS 

China  is  a  big  question  mark  and  a  tremendous  challenge! 
A  question  mark  for  those  who  want  an  accurate  knowledge  of 
social  conditions  and  a  challenge  to  those  who,  watching  a  nation 
in  transition,  would  help  her  develop  along  the  best  possible  lines. 

With  the  country  changing  from  an  ancient  empire  to  a  mod- 
ern democracy,  with  the  ancient  gilds  beginning  to  feel  the 
pressure  of  new  industrial  methods,  with  the  passing  of  the  old 
education  and  the  coming  of  the  new,  with  the  gradual  discarding 
of  the  age  long  primitive  methods  of  philanthropy  and  the  opening 
of  new,  well  organized  institutions,  one  can  hardly  imagine  a  situ- 
ation where  accurate  detailed  facts  and  a  strong  social  program  are 
more  important  or  more  necessary  for  those  who  would  help 
China,  whether  they  be  students,  officials,  social  workers,  educa- 
tors or  missionaries. 

That  there  are  crying  social  needs,  vast  ignorance,  appalling 
poverty,  a  striking  lack  of  wholesome  recreation,  is  very  evident ; 
and  it  is  also  apparent  that  there  are  many  people  of  wide  and 
divergent  interests,  Chinese  and  foreigners,  missionaries  and 
workers  of  the  Protestant,  Catholic  and  Greek  churches,  officials, 
social  workers  and  private  individuals  who  might  help  in  carrying 
out  an  effective  social  program  but  who  for  the  most  part  are  not 
now  at  work. 

^  Before  these  people  and  problems  can  be  brought  together  two 
things  must  be  done :  scientific  studies  must  be  made  of  concrete 
facts  and  situations,  and  definite  social  programs  must  be  worked 
out  on  the  basis  of  the  findings  of  the  studies. 

There  are  two  movements  in  Peking  and  China:  the  Renais- 
sance or  New  Thought  Movement  among  the  educated  classes, 
and  Protestant  Christianity  reaching  all  classes ;  and  both  of  these 
movements  have  been  taking  an  increasing  interest  in  practical 
community  service  enterprises.  The  Renaissance  Movement, 
whose  motto  is  "Save  the  country  through  science  and  democ- 

25 


26  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

racy,"  has  concentrated  the  attention  of  the  thinking  young  men 
of  China  on  social  questions.  The  term  "social  reconstruction" 
is  probably  the  most  popular  term  among  young  Chinese  to-day, 
who  with  their  professors  have  set  themselves  the  task  of  critically 
analyzing  all  the  old  customs  of  China  with  the  aim  of  destroying 
those  that  are  considered  harmful,  whether  they  have  to  do  with 
family,  industry  or  state.  They  have  been  doing  some  practical 
service,  teaching  in  free  night  schools  and  helping  improve  the  in- 
dustrial gilds'  methods  of  training  apprentices,  but,  for  the  most 
part,  their  activities  have  been  literary  rather  than  practical,  have 
changed  the  thought  life  of  China  rather  than  developed  a  prac- 
tical program.  They  have  been  so  successful  in  a  relatively  short 
time  that  they  have  very  nearly  reached  the  point  where  if  they 
are  to  make  the  most  of  their  opportunity  they  must  apply  their 
social  theories  to  concrete  situations,  and  by  actual  experiment 
make  sure  that  their  program  is  fitted  to  Chinese  life.  There  is 
some  danger  that  there  will  be  too  much  emphasis  put  on  social 
theory  from  the  west,  which,  growing  out  of  a  social  and  indus- 
trial situation  different  from  that  prevailing  in  China,  will  not  be 
fitted  to  Chinese  life  unless  modified  by  study  and  practical 
experiment. 

It  has  been  the  conviction  of  many  of  the  leaders  of  the  Chris- 
tian movement  in  China  that  the  next  important  step  in  the  prog1 
ress  of  Christianity  in  that  nation  should  be  in  the  general  field 
of  the  more  comprehensive  application  of  Christian  principles  to 
the  social  life  of  the  people. 

One  of  the  principal  causes  of  this  conclusion  has  been  the 
series  of  evangelistic  campaigns  conducted  by  Dr.  Mott  in  1913, 
Sherwood  Eddy  in  1914  and  1918,  and  Frank  Buchman  in 
1916  and  1918.  The  net  result  of  these  has  been  an  awakened 
interest  in  Christianity  among  hundreds  of  students  and  officials, 
a  class  hitherto  but  little  affected  by  the  Christian  movement. 
Especially  in  the  addresses  of  Dr.  Eddy,  Christianity  was  pre- 
sented not  only  as  a  power  to  transform  individual  character  but 
as  a  force  that  would  save  the  nation.  With  the  present  temper 
of  the  young  men  of  China,  the  call  to  national  and  social  salva- 
tion was  the  strongest  possible  challenge.  Hundreds  joined  Bible 
classes  and  discussion  groups  in  order  to  learn  HOW  Christianity 
could  save  the  nation.  For  the  most  part  the  only  concrete  and 
definite  reply  they  received  was  that  Christianity  by  its  power  to 
transform  individual  lives  from  selfishness  to  service  would  grad- 
ually leaven  the  nation  with  right-minded  people  in  all  walks  of 
life  and  thus  eventually  and  automatically  transform  Chinese 
society  and  national  life. 

However  true  this  reply  may  be  and  however  essential  indi- 
vidual transformation  of  character  is  in  a  social  program,  it  is 


INTRODUCTION  ANB  CONCLUSIONS  27 

not  sufficient  for  the  demands  of  the  hour  in  Peking.  The  right 
spirit  and  attitude  are  not  alone  sufficient  to  transform  the  nation. 
The  spirit  of  love,  the  general  social  principles  of  Christianity  and 
even  the  far-off  aim  of  the  Kingdom  are  desired  by  the  young, 
intelligent  future  leaders  of  China,  but  they  also  demand  that 
definite  methods  and  processes  be  used  in  applying  these  new 
principles  and  realizing  these  new  ideals.  One  young  man  who 
recently  became  a  Christian  joined  the  church  with  the  belief  that 
it  was  a  group  of  men  and  women  banded  together  with  the 
purpose  of  bringing  in  a  new  social  order  founded  on  the  prin- 
ciples laid  down  by  Jesus  Christ.  Two  months  after  he  was 
baptized  he  came  to  the  person  who  had  introduced  him  to  the 
pastor  and  said,  "What  sort  of  an  institution  is  this  that  you 
recommended  to  me  to  join?  I  thought  you  said  it  was  a  group 
of  men  and  women  whose  main  business  it  was  to  bring  in  the 
Kingdom  of  God  in  Peking.  It  was  with  that  object  that  I  joined 
the  church.  I  have  been  there  now  for  two  months  and  have 
done  nothing  but  listen  to  sermons  on  Sunday !  So  far  they  have 
given  me  nothing  to  do !"  The  lack  of  a  comprehensive  Christian 
social  program,  pioneered  by  the  church,  is  due  not  so  much  to 
definite  neglect  of  this  important  field  by  the  Chinese  and  Foreign 
church  leaders,  as  to  the  lack  of  accurate  scientific  knowledge  of 
social  conditions  and  methods  of  community  service. 

In  one  sense,  of  course,  the  Christian  forces,  Catholic,  Prot- 
estant, Greek  Orthodox,  have  been  engaged  in  various  forms  of 
social  service  for  years.  The  missionaries  and  churches  have 
pioneered  in  modern  education  from  kindergarten  to  university. 
Through  their  efforts  hospitals  have  been  established  and  medical 
colleges  opened.  Doctors  and  nurses  by  the  hundreds  are  carry- 
ing on  their  work  of  healing  and  prevention  throughout  the  nation. 
The  first  schools  for  the  blind,  rescue  homes  for  fallen  women, 
scientific  famine  relief  work,  modern  athletics,  physical  education 
and  a  long  list  of  other  social  movements  have  been  started  by  the 
missionaries  and  native  leaders  of  the  Chinese  church.  Christian  j 
evangelistic  work  has  also  had  a  large  indirect  influence  on  the 
social  life  of  the  Chinese.  A  new  estimate  of  womanhood,  the 
greater  valuation  of  children,  a  deeper  interest  in  the  poor  and 
oppressed  classes  and  a  higher  estimate  of  the  value  of  personality 
are  some  of  the  marked  results  of  Christian  missions.  But  per- 
haps the  greatest  contribution  of  the  Christian  movement  to  the 
future  social  program  of  China  is  the  earnest  and  unselfish  desire 
to  serve  their  fellow  men  that  has  been  given  thousands  of  men, 
women  and  children.  To  do  full  justice  to  the  social  effect  of 
foreign  missions  one  ought  to  enumerate  many  more  social  results 
of  Christianity  in  China,  but  even  so  it  cannot  be  said  that  the 
Christian  movement  has  as  yet  formulated  a  definite  constructive 


28  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

program  of  social  welfare  for  China  that  will  vitalize  this  desire 
to  serve.  Great  good  has  been  done  by  the  foreign  missionaries 
and  the  salaried  Chinese  of  the  missions  in  evangelistic,  medical 
and  educational  work,  but  the  laymen  of  the  churches,  with  few 
exceptions,  are  not  engaged  in  any  active  church  service.  Those 
who  are  engaged  in  voluntary  service  are  devoting  their  time 
almost  exclusively  to  evangelistic  work.  The  church  members  as  a 
whole  either  have  not  connected  in  their  thinking  the  principles  of 
Christianity  and  the  social  needs  of  China  or  else  do  not  know  how 
to  apply  those  principles. 

/This  survey  has  been  made  with  the  hope  of  discovering  the 
fundamental  social  conditions  in  Peking,  the  capital  of  the  coun- 
try, and  of  making  available  material  which  may  be  of  use  to  the 
Renaissance  movement,  the  Protestant  churches  and  other  move- 
ments and  individuals  in  working  out  a  practical  expression  of 
their  interest  in  social  problems  and  developing  a  social  program 
that  will  influence  the  life  of  Peking  and  all  of  China.  The  big 
problem  of  the  future  is  to  relate  social  experience  to  the  needs 
of  the  Chinese  and  help  them  in  these  days  of  transition  to  make 
the  greatest  amount  of  progress  with  the  least  number  of  mistakes. 

SUMMARIZED  FINDINGS  AND   CONCLUSIONS 

The  outstanding  facts  discovered  by  the  survey,  the  various 
problems  to  be  faced  and  some  of  the  conclusions  drawn  there- 
from are  given  in  the  following  paragraphs : 

HISTORY 

The  history  of  Peking  covers  more  than  three  thousand  years, 
the  records  showing  that  in  1121  B.  C.  there  was  a  city  on  the 
site  of  the  present  Peking  which  is  the  sixth  city  built  on  the 
same  site.  Peking  has  been  the  capital  of  China  almost  continu- 
ously for  1,000  years,  and  within  its  walls  are  to  be  found  the 
palaces,  temples,  and  homes  that  the  Emperors  have  built  for 
themselves  and  the  members  of  their  courts.  Now  that  the  Em- 
pire is  gone  these  are  kept  as  government  property,  most  of  them 
as  parks  or  museums,  although  some  of  the  palaces  are  occupied 
by  the  President  and  the  old  imperial  families.  The  National 
Assembly  and  various  government  boards  are  housed  in  large 
modern  buildings. 

GEOGRAPHY 

Peking  is  made  up  of  five  walled  districts,  three  of  which  are 
concentric.  The  Forbidden  City,  the  old  home  of  the  Emperor, 
is  in  the  center,  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  city  by  a  wall  and 
moat.  Around  it  lies  the  Imperial  City,  the  old  home  of  the  lesser 


INTRODUCTION  AND  CONCLUSIONS  29 

members  of  the  Court.  Outside  of  this  is  the  North  or  Tartar 
City,  surrounded  by  a  wall  41  feet  high  and  50  feet  across  at  the 
top.  The  South  or  Chinese  City  joins  the  North  City  on  the 
south,  its  north  wall  being  the  south  wall  of  the  North  City.  The 
Legation  Quarter,  the  home  of  the  official  representatives  of  the 
foreign  countries,  is  a  small  district  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
North  City.  It  is  walled  because  of  the  experience  of  1900,  when 
the  foreigners  in  the  city  were  besieged  by  the  Boxers.  For  ad- 
ministrative purposes,  Peking  has  been  divided  into  twenty  police 
districts.  The  Central  Districts  are  in  the  Imperial  City,  the 
Inside  Districts  in  the  North  City,  and  the  Outside  Districts  in 
the  South  City.  The  Left  Districts  are  on  the  east,  and  the  Right 
'Districts  on  the  west  side  of  the  city.  The  area  of  the  city  is 
24.75  square  miles. 

GOVERNMENT 

The  Government  of  Peking  is  a  Chinese  puzzle.  Many  differ- 
ent boards  and  agencies,  including  the  National  Government,  with 
its  President,  Cabinet  and  Parliament,  the  Metropolitan  District, 
and  two  of  its  20  hsien,  the  Military  Guard  under  the  Board  of 
War,  the  Municipal  Council  and  Police  Board,  both  of  which  are 
responsible  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  are  all  functioning  in 
the  city.  The  powers  of  the  various  boards  are  determined  by\ 
custom  rather  than  by  law,  so  it  is  practically  impossible  to 
describe  their  relationship  under  all  conditions.  The  officials, 
however,  claim  that  each  one  knows  what  he  is  to  do  in  any  emer- 
gency. The  police,  whose  organization  is  modeled  after  that  of 
Japan  and  Germany,  are  responsible  for  most  of  the  work  done 
in  the  city  and  touch  almost  every  side  of  the  life  of  the  people,  i 
They  exercise  the  usual  police  functions,  and  those  of  the  Board 
of  Health,  Fire  Department  and  Census  Bureau  as  well.  They 
have  also  taken  over  the  management  of  most  of  the  charitable 
institutions  in  the  city.  In  spite  of  their  many  ramifications  the 
police  with  a  force  of  9,789  men  are  doing  very  efficient  and 
creditable  work,  and  Peking  is  well  called  one  of  the  best  policed 
cities  of  the  Orient.  The  1917  police  report  is  the  basis  of  many 
of  our  statistics. 

Because  Peking  is  the  capital  of  the  country,  the  officials  have 
made  many  improvements  in  the  city.  An  extensive  sewer  sys- 
tem has  been  built,  the  main  streets  have  been  paved,  begging  has 
been  greatly  restricted,  the  sanitary  condition  has  been  tremen- 
dously improved.  Most  of  the  expense — and  the  police  alone  are 
spending  over  two  and  a  quarter  million  dollars  a  year — has  been 
met  from  the  revenue  of  the  National  Government,  rather  than 
from  taxes  collected  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  city.  What  is 
perhaps  the  most  serious  social  problem  of  the  city  arises  through 


30  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

Peking's  connection  with  the  Government.  Official  position  is  so 
sought  after  by  the  Chinese  that,  although  there  are  only  some 
5,000  positions  in  the  Government,  it  is  estimated  that  there  are 
over  110,000  "expectant  officials"  in  the  city — men  who  have 
come  to  Peking  with  the  hope  that  they  will  be  able  to  secure 
some  office.  Away  from  home,  without  employment,  these  men 
are  a  serious  problem,  not  only  because  of  the  numbers  involved, 
but  because  they  are  some  of  the  best  men  of  the  country,  and, 
living  in  idleness,  are  subject  to  the  evil  influences  of  a  big  city. 
Furthermore,  they  expect  that  the  perquisites  of  their  position 
will  repay  them  for  their  present  expenditure  of  time  and  money, 
and  so  help  to  continue  the  system  of  "squeeze"  and  corruption. 

POPULATION 

The  population  of  Peking  is  811,556.  Of  these,  515,535 
(63.5  percent)  are  males  and  296,021  (36.5  percent)  are  females. 
In  some  police  districts,  77  percent  of  the  population  are  males. 
These  figures  are  almost  enough  to  tell  the  story  of  the  social  life 
and  problems  of  Peking,  especially  since  a  very  large  proportion 
(61.7  percent)  of  the  men  are  less  than  35  years  old.  It  is  evi- 
dent, from  the  figures  giving  the  ages  of  the  people,  that  the 
population  of  Peking  is  largely  made  up  of  immigrants,  most  of 
whom  come  to  the  city  when  they  are  between  15  and  30  years  of 
age.  They  come  seeking  education,  business  training  and  official 
position.  Consequently,  most  of  them  come  without  their  fam- 
ilies. Many  are  married,  but  those  seeking  official  position  hesi- 
tate to  bring  their  families  with  them  until  they  are  sure  of 
success,  a  student  finds  it  practically  impossible  to  live  with  his 
wife  and  family,  while  for  those  who  go  into  business  the  long 
hours,  low  wages  and  the  fact  that  they  are  given  their  room  and 
board  as  part  of  their  wages,  make  it  best,  if  not  almost  necessary, 
for  them  to  leave  their  families  with  their  parents  rather  than 
bring  them  to  the  city  where  they  would  have  to  be  alone  a  great 
deal  of  the  time. 

The  average  population  density  is  33,626  per  square  mile,  or 
approximately  three  times  that  of  American  cities  of  similar  size. 
In  the  police  districts  where  business  predominates,  the  number  of 
people  per  square  mile  varies  from  72,136  to  83,823.  Those  in 
which  residences  predominate  have  from  30,000  to  40,000  per 
square  mile,  while  those  in  which  there  are  less  than  20,000 
persons  per  square  mile  are  really  agricultural  districts,  even 
though  they  are  inside  the  walls. 

The  foreign  population  of  Peking,  exclusive  of  those  living  in 
the  Legation  Quarter,  is  given  for  1917  as  1,524.  Of  these,  .595 
were  Japanese,  281  Americans  and  230  English. 


DRESSED    IN   HIS  TIGER   SUIT  AND  CAP   FOR  THE   DRAGON    FESTIVAL 

The  Fifth  of  the  Fifth  Moon,  one  of  China's  Feast  Days  and  Holidays. 


A  WELL-TO-DO  ARISTOCRAT. 

Peking  has  no  real  slums;  both  rich  and  poor  live  in  the  same  districts. 


INTRODUCTION  AND  CONCLUSIONS  31 

HEALTH 

The  health  of  Peking  is  on  the  whole  very  good.  The  climate 
is  naturally  healthful,  even  though  there  are  two  months  of 
freezing  weather,  and  the  summer  temperatures  are  accompanied 
with  high  humidity.  With  practically  no  precipitation  during  the 
winter  months,  there  is  brilliant  sunshine  day  after  day,  unless 
the  sky  is  overcast  with  one  of  the  dust  storms  for  which  Peking 
is  famous.  The  average  precipitation,  most  of  which  comes 
during  the  summer  months,  is  about  20  inches.  The  police  have 
cleaned  up  the  city;  there  are  some  46  hospitals  and  1,098  doctors, 
109  of  whom  have  had  training  in  western  medicine.  The  won- 
derful staff  and  equipment  of  the  hospital  and  medical  school  of 
the  China  Medical  Board  of  the  Rockefeller  Foundation  gives 
Peking  as  fine  a  hospital  as  can  be  found  anywhere,  the  buildings 
and  equipment  alone  representing  an  investment  of  some 
$7,000,000  gold. 

The  birth  rate  according  to  the  police  statistics  is  n.8  per 
1,000  persons,  or  32.6  per  1,000  females,  but  the  police  officials 
say  that  this  is  much  too  low.  The  study  of  a  group  of  church 
families  and  of  a  group  living  just  outside  the  city  found  birth 
rates  of  26.5  and  36.5.  In  all  probability  the  rate  for  the  city  is 
between  18  and  20  per  1,000  persons,  or  55  and  60  per  1,000 
females.  The  death  rate,  which  is  much  more  accurate,  is  25.8 
per  1,000 — 21.6  for  males  and  33.2  for  females. 

There  is  a  modern  water  system  in  Peking,  but  the  cost  of 
the  water,  one  copper  for  ten  gallons,  is  prohibitive  for  most  of 
the  Chinese  families.  They  secure  their  water  from  wells  or 
from  one  of  the  2,500  water-carriers  who  distribute  water 
throughout  the  city  in  wooden  tanks,  mounted  on  big  wheel- 
barrows. The  sewer  system  that  covers  most  of  the  city  is 
designed  to  carry  off  only  drainage  and  waste  water.  The  daily 
collection  and  drying,  for  fertilizer,  of  the  night  soil  gives  employ- 
ment to  some  5,000  men. 

EDUCATION 

Peking  is  the  educational  as  well  as  the  political  center  of 
China.  Within  its  walls  are  the  most  important  educational  insti- 
tutions of  the  country,  the  University  of  the  National  Govern- 
ment, the  National  Teachers'  College,  the  Higher  Technical 
School,  while  the  students  in  middle  and  higher  grade  schools 
number  16,879,  more  than  twice  as  many  as  in  any  other  city  in 
the  country.  And  these  students  come  from  every  province  and 
almost  every  large  city  in  China.  The  Renaissance  or  New 
Thought  Movement  that  has  swept  over  the  entire  country  was 


33  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

pioneered  and  stimulated  by  the  students  and  educational  leaders 
of  Peking. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  modern  education  did  not  really 
begin  in  China  until  1905,  the  building  of  this  new  educational 
system  stands  out  as  one  of  the  great  educational  achievements  of 
history,  particularly  as  the  country  has  been  so  disturbed  with 
revolution  and  political  turmoil. 

Educational  progress  for  men  has  been  particularly  rapid, 
there  being  some  48,000  men  and  boys  in  the  schools  of  Peking. 
For  women  the  development  has  been  much  slower  as  there  are 
only  some  7,000  female  students  in  the  schools  of  the  city.  This 
progress,  however,  compares  favorably  with  that  in  other  cities 
in  China.  Only  recently  have  the  Government  University  and 
the  graduate  department  of  the  National  Teachers*  College  begun 
to  admit  women,  coeducation  in  higher  schools  being  practically 
unheard  of  in  China  until  1920. 

A  very  complicated  system  of  control  is  one  of  the  striking 
features  of  the  educational  work  in  Peking.  The  majority  of  the 
schools  are  under  either  the  National  or  Local  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, but  12  other  governmental  agencies  are  also  maintaining 
schools. 

The  missions,  Roman  Catholic,  Greek  Catholic,  Protestant, 
have  schools  of  all  grades  from  kindergarten  to  university  and 
there  are  many  that  are  privately  run. 

The  ideals  and  aims  of  the  primary  and  middle  schools  are 
for  the  most  part  distinctively  modern  with  plans  for  industrial 
education,  interest  in  science  and  experimental  methods  of  teach- 
ing and  emphasis  on  the  all-round  character  development  of  the 
students.  Mr.  David  Yui,  after  an  investigation  of  Chinese  educa- 
tion, points  out  many  defects  in  carrying  out  these  ideals.  Most 
of  those,  however,  are  the  result  of  the  influence  of  the  ancient 
classical  traditions  or  of  the  rapidity  of  the  development  of  the 
vast  new  and  modern  system  of  education. 

The  lack  of  vocational  and  technical  education  is  most  notice- 
able, but  a  start  is  being  made  along  those  lines.  The  Higher 
Technical  College  and  the  industrial  department  of  the  National 
Teachers'  College  are  giving  good  training  in  more  advanced  lines, 
lower  vocational  schools  are  being  established,  and  some  schools 
are  beginning  to  adopt  the  cooperative  system,  half  time  study 
and  half  time  work. 

Among  the  special  schools  in  Peking,  the  First  Public  School 
for  the  Blind,  founded  by  E.  G.  Hillier,  Esq.,  is  of  special  interest, 
for  it  was  one  of  the  first  schools  to  make  use  of  the  system  of 
Chinese  Braille  devised  by  'Mr.  Hillier.  This  is  based  on  a 
phonetic  system  of  writing  with  sixty-two  characters,  twelve 
phonetics  and  fifty  radicals.  It  is  also  striking  to  find  the  police 


INTRODUCTION  AND  CONCLUSIONS  89 

maintaining    fifty-three    half-day    schools    with    four    thousand 
scholars. 

A  very  excellent  system  for  social  or  mass  education  has  been 
planned  with  lecture  halls,  libraries,  and  newspaper  reading 
rooms.  There  are  ten  lecture  halls  scattered  throughout  the  city 
in  which  lectures  on  patriotism,  observance  of  law,  morality,  com- 
mon knowledge,  friendly  and  philanthropic  relations  are  given 
for  two  hours  a  day  by  men  specially  trained  by  the  Board  of 
Education.  Lecture  bands  are  also  sent  to  the  temple  markets. 
Unfortunately  the  scheme  does  not  work  as  well  as  it  might.  The 
men  in  charge,  inadequately  prepared  and  poorly  paid,  are  not 
able  to  make  the  lecture  halls  the  educational  centers  they  might 
well  be.  The  one  exception  is  the  Model  Lecture  Hall,  which  is 
carrying  on  a  valuable  program  of  lectures  with  a  well  trained 
corps  of  lecturers. 

Small  libraries  are  kept  in  most  of  the  lecture  halls.  Besides 
these  there  are  five  public  libraries.  Those  containing  the  old 
classical  books  are  not  used  extensively,  but  the  relatively  small 
amount  of  modern  literature  is  being  eagerly  devoured  by  thou- 
sands of-  readers.  In  none  of  the  libraries  is  the  collection  of 
modern  books  nearly  as  large  as  it  ought  to  be. 

The  Renaissance  Movement,  started  in  Peking  in  1919  as  a 
literary  revolution  to  introduce  the  use  in  writing  of  the  spoken 
language  rather  than  the  ancient  classical  mode  of  expression,  has 
spread  over  the  entire  country  and  has  developed  an  enlarged  and 
well  defined  program  with  a  distinctly  social  aim.  The  object  of 
the  movement  is  "To  save  the  nation  through  science  and  democ- 
racy," and  its  method  is  first  to  destroy  the  harmful  features  of 
the  old  family,  economic  and  political  system  and  then  build  a 
new  society.  The  necessary  intellectual  equipment  for  this  task  is 
to  be  gained  by  the  study  of  the  writings  of  a  group  of  European 
and  American  democratic  and  socialistic  thinkers,  translations  of 
which  are  being  spread  over  the  country  by  modern  periodicals 
and  books.  Already  the  movement  has  had  a  profound  effect  on 
the  viewpoint  of  Young  China. 

COMMERCIAL  LIFE 

Commercial  and  labor  gilds,  each  representing  one  industry 
but  including  all  those  engaged  in  that  line,  employers  and  em- 
ployees, are  the  basis  of  the  commercial  life  of  Peking.  With 
their  rules  and  regulations,  close  membership  and  the  requirement 
which  most  of  them  have,  of  a  three-year  apprenticeship,  before 
a  man  is  eligible  to  join,  the  gilds  have  maintained  a  fairly  static 
industrial  situation.  Ordinarily  they  have  not,  according  to  west- 
ern ideals,  made  for  progress.  The  members  of  a  gild  all  have  to 


£4*  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

/abide  by  the  gild  rules  that  fix  prices,  wages,  terms  of  credit,  etc. 
Those  who  break  them  are  subject  to  reprimand,  fine  or  even  ex- 
pulsion and  boycott.  The  power  of  the  group  is  so  strong  that 
the  individual  must  conform.  Where  so  many  men  are  involved 
and  where  so  few  have  any  financial  reserve  and  labor  has  prac- 
tically no  mobility,  any  dislocation  of  industry  means  suffering 
for  many.  Consequently,  the  Chinese  have  come  to  believe  in 
combination  and  the  maintenance  of  the  status  quo  rather  than 
in  competition.  Ordinarily  the  gilds  do  not  even  allow  a  man 
who  develops  a  new  idea  to  have  the  exclusive  use  of  his  invention. 
Since  1900  chambers  of  commerce  have  been  organized  in 
many  Chinese  cities.  The  influential  men  and  directors  of  the 
Peking  Chamber  are  all  representatives  of  various  gilds,  though 
ordinary  merchants  are  admitted  to  membership.  The  chamber 
H  of  commerce  is  taking  over  many  of  the  functions  common  to  all 
of  the  gilds.  The  chief  of  these  is  deciding  many  of  the  disputes 
that  arise  over  industrial  and  commercial  matters.  Courts  have 
been  established  by  many  gilds,  but  these  ordinarily  hear  cases 
that  involve  only  members  of  the  gild.  Those  that  include  men 
belonging  to  more  than  one  gild  are  usually  heard  by  the  chamber 
of  commerce  court.  This  is  an  extra  legal  institution,  but  is 
recognized  by  the  officials  and  the  regular  law  courts,  who  usually 
refer  to  it  for  decision  any  cases  that  come  before  them  having 
to  do  with  business  or  business  procedure.  Because  there  is  but 
little  national  law  and  customs  are  so  different  in  different  parts 
of  the  country,  these  chamber  of  commerce  courts  decide  the 
cases  that  come  before  them  acording  to  the  customs  prevailing 
in  each  locality.  The  decision  of  a  chamber  of  commerce  court 
is  never  binding  unless  it  is  accepted  by  the  interested  parties  or, 
if  the  case  has  been  referred  from  a  law  court,  has  been  reviewed 
by  the  court. 

In  the  past  the  gilds  have  been  powerful  even  over  the  officials 
and  they  still  maintain  much  of  this  power.  In  Peking,  however, 
there  are  signs  that  they  are  not  as  strong  as  they  have  been, 
that  the  police  and  officials  are  taking  over  more  and  more  control 
of  the  business  life  of  the  city.  So  far  the  government  forces 
have  usually  moved  only  after  conference  with  the  chamber  of 
commerce  or  the  individual  gild  affected.  As  far  as  we  can  find, 
*  there  never  has  been  a  real  test  of  strength  between  the  gilds  and 
the  Government.  In  one  or  two  instances,  where  the  officials 
have  tried  against  the  wishes  of  the  gilds  to  increase  the  taxes, 
the  gilds  have  retaliated  by  a  strike  that  has  been  maintained 
until  the  unacceptable  taxes  have  been  removed.  These,  however, 
have  been  minor  matters  rather  than  any  question  of  ultimate 
control.  Just  what  will  happen  when  a  real  test  comes,  no  one 
knows,  but  there  is  every  indication  that  the  power  of  the  gilds 


INTRODUCTION  AND  CONCLUSIONS  35 

is  going  to  grow  less  and  less  as  modern  industrial  conditions 
develop. 

Although  Peking  is  a  very  large  banking  center,  modern  in- 
dustry as  yet  has  not  secured  much  of  a  foothold  in  the  city.  The 
local  octroi  taxes  make  it  practically  impossible  to  establish 
factories  inside  the  walls.  The  next  few  years  will  probably  see 
the  establishment  of  a  large  number  of  small  fairly  modern  shops 
rather  than  large  factories.  Even  so,  it  looks  as  though  China 
would  have  to  go  through  an  industrial  revolution  with  its  many 
problems,  and  although  she  may  go  through  the  process  faster 
than  other  countries  she  is  going  to  have  the  troubles  that  go 
with  long  hours,  child  labor,  and  the  exploitation  of  workers. 

RECREATION 

Recreation-  in  Peking  reflects  very  clearly  the  transitional 
stage  through  which  the  people  of  China  are  passing  and  the 
possibilities  and  dangers  of  the  change  from  the  old  to  the  new. 

The  old  amusements  which  have  characterized  the  life  of  the 
capital  for  generations,  theater-going,  feasting,  listening  to 
story-tellers,  Chinese  horse-racing,  and  entertainment  by  the 
singsong  girls  or  public  entertainers,  can  still  be  found  in  much 
the  same  form  as  in  ancient  days.  For  the  most  part  they  are 
highly  commercialized  and  are  often  in  close  connection  with  or 
at  least  located  near  the  prostitute  quarter.  Gambling  and  some 
drinking  frequently  accompany  the  feasting  in  the  hotels  and  tea 
houses  of  the  southern  city. 

Even  in  these  ancient  forms  of  amusement,  many  modifica- 
tions are  beginning  to  appear.  New  style  plays  are  being  put  on, 
crude  copies  of  western  theatrical  performances  given  in  the 
mandarin  or  spoken  language  rather  than  the  old  literary  style 
of  the  ancient  plays.  The  Board  of  Education  is  working  with 
the  Story-Tellers  Gild  and  is  encouraging  them  to  use  new 
educational  stories  as  well  as  the  old  historical  tales. 

Totally  new  forms  of  amusement,  imported  from  the  west, 
pool  and  billiards,  moving  pictures,  .public  parks,  a  new  recreation 
center  known  as  "The  New  World"— the  Coney  Island  of 
Peking — have  also  been  introduced. 

The  twenty-two  regular  theaters  and  eight  mat  shed  theaters 
of  Peking,  crowded  every  night  with  thousands  of  people,  are 
the  most  popular  recreation  places  in  the  city.  Up  to  1912  no 
actresses  were  allowed  on  the  stage.  Now  they  are  playing  in 
eleven  of  the  theaters,  but  they  do  not  appear  on  the  same  stage 
with  men.  Their  coming  has  changed  somewhat  the  character  of 
the  plays. 

The  many   restaurants,  provincial  halls   and  hotels   of  the 


S6  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

capital  afford  a  great  opportunity  for  social  life.  The  gild 
halls,  representing  every  province  and  nearly  every  large  city 
in  China,  are  natural  meeting  places  for  fellow-provincials  who 
have  come  to  the  capital  on  official  or  business  trips. 

Up  to  the  present  the  seventeen  pool  and  billiard  parlors  have 
kept  free  of  any  close  connection  with  gambling  or  the  near-by 
red  light  district  and  for  the  most  part  afford  wholesome  recrea- 
tion. The  first  moving  picture  theater  was  opened  in  1912.  Now 
there  are  six,  attended  by  approximately  three  thousand  people  a 
night.  Unfortunately,  many  of  the  pictures  are  very  old  and 
many  have  failed  to  pass  the  censor  in  western  countries. 

With  the  coming  of  the  new  regime,  many  of  the  open  places 
in  Peking  that  formerly  belonged  to  the  court  and  so  were  closed 
to  the  people,  have  been  opened  as  public  parks.  The  grounds 
of  the  Temple  of  Heaven,  the  Temple^  of  Agriculture,  the 
Zoological  Gardens  and  even  parts  of  the  Imperial  Palace  itself 
give  Peking  a  fine  park  system,  and  to  those  who  can  pay  the 
entrance  fee  of  a  few  coppers  an  opportunity  for  healthful 
recreation,  but  the  fee  keeps  out  many  who  need  most  the  recrea- 
tion afforded  by  the  park  grounds.  The  new  recreation  centers — 
the  New  World  and  the  South  City  Amusement  Park — are  highly 
commercialized  enterprises  with  distinctly  middle  grade  enter- 
tainments, some  western  and  some  Chinese. 

Modern  athletics,  track,  baseball,  volley  ball,  association  foot- 
ball, tennis  are  about  the  only  non-commercialized,  helpful  form 
of  modern  amusement  that  has  been  introduced,  but  unfortu- 
nately they  have  been  confined  almost  exclusively  to  the  student 
group.  The  results  of  modern  athletics  on  the  carriage  and 
deportment  of  the  students  of  China  are  most  apparent  to  any  one 
familiar  with  that  class  ten  or  fifteen  years  ago. 

Modern  playgrounds  and  recreation  centers  where  people  of 
all  ages,  with  or  without  money,  can  find  wholesome  recreation 
are  greatly  needed,  as  are  new  and  better  types  of  moving  pictures 
that  have  a  real  educational  and  recreational  value. 

The  place  given  to  women  in  Chinese  society  and  the  lack  of 
wholesome  home  life  necessarily  makes  impossible  what  from 
the  western  point  of  view  would  be  termed  wholesome  and 
natural  social  relations  between  men  and  women.  The  indirect 
result  of  this  situation  is  the  close  connection  of  many  of  the 
amusements  for  men  with  the  segregated  district  where  natural 
social  instincts  have  a  means  of  expression.  This  lack  of  oppor- 
tunity for  wholesome  association  with  women  also  explains  in 
a  measure  why  a  very  large  proportion  of  those  who  visit  the 
houses  of  prostitution  go  there  not  for  the  purpose  of  illicit 
relations  but  to  drink  tea  and  talk  with  the  girls.  Among  a 
limited  number  of  the  students  and  returned  students  new  forms 


INTRODUCTION  AND  CONCLUSIONS  37 

of  social  amusements,  dances  and  parties,  for  men  and  women, 
are  gradually  being  introduced,  but  the  movement  has  not  gone 
far.  It  cannot  go  far  without  introducing  new  and  delicate  prob- 
lems and  situations,  but  the  tendency  for  the  most  part  is  most 
hopeful.  Wholesome  amusements  of  this  sort  will  meet  what  is 
perhaps  the  greatest  need  in  the  recreational  life  of  the  capital. 

THE  SOCIAL  EVIL 

The  social  evil  in  Peking  cannot  fairly  be  judged  by  western 
standards,  for  the  situation  as  shown  by  our  investigation  is 
entirely  different  from  any  found  in  western  cities.  In  forming 
any  estimate  of  this  feature  of  Chinese  life  one  must  keep  in 
mind  the  low  .position  of  women,  the  lack  of  wholesome  social 
recreation,  the  lack  of  what,  from  a  western  viewpoint,  would  be 
called  normal  social  relationships  between  young  men  and  young 
women,  the  conditions  in  the  Chinese  clan  home,  the  organization 
of  Chinese  official  life  which  makes  it  very  difficult  for  an  in- 
dividual to  stand  against  social  pressure,  the  new  spirit  of  f  ree-  , 
dom  that  has  swept  the  country  since  the  Revolution  in  1911,  the 
fact  that  in  Peking  63.5  percent  of  the  population  are  male. 
Economic  pressure  has  often  caused  parents  to  sell  their  daugh- 
ters to  the  brothels  or  to  enter  an  agreement  whereby  they  share 
with  the  brothel  keeper  the  profits  if  the  girl  is  bought  as  a 
concubine  by  some  wealthy  man. 

The  opinions  of  competent  Chinese  and  foreign  observers 
vary  as  to  the  extent  of  the  social  evil  in  Peking.  There  seems 
little  doubt  that  for  clean  wholesome  living  there  have  been  few 
if  any  races  that  have  had  a  higher  moral  standard  than  the 
country  peasants  of  North  China,  and  the  country  standards  are 
maintained  by  many  city  families.  Among  the  officials  and 
students  the  social  evil  is  wide-spread  and  increasing.  It  is  also 
said  to  be  very  prevalent  in  the  army. 

In  1912  under  Yuan  Shih  K'ai  the  Government  licensed  the 
prostitutes  and  gave  public  recognition  to  the  segregated  district. 
At  present  there  are  377  brothels  and  3,130  registered  prostitutes 
divided  into  four  classes,  from  the  young,  pretty,  well  trained 
girls  between  sixteen  and  twenty  years  of  age  found  in  the  first- 
class  houses  to  the  older  and  coarser  women  in  those  of  the 
fourth  class. 

The  by-products  of  the  social  evil  in  Peking  are  becoming 
increasingly  apparent.  Venereal  infection  is  spreading  especially 
among  the  official  and  educated  classes  and  the  harmful  effect  of 
the  "fast  life"  and  the  keeping  of  several  wives  can  be  plainly 
seen. 

A  unique  piece  of  "rescue  work"  has  been  instituted  by  the 


38  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

police  in  the  Chi  Liang  So  (Door  of  Hope),  an  institution  to 
which  prostitutes  may  be  sent  or  come  of  their  own  free  will. 
But  once  in  the  home  the  women  are  not  allowed  to  leave  unless 
they  are  married  or  taken  by  their  family. 

The  efforts  of  the  Social  Reform  Association  have  revealed 
the  difficulties  connected  with  any  attempt  to  change  a  system 
that  is  so  thoroughly  established  and  against  which  there  has 
been  but  little  organized  public  opinion. 

POVERTY    AND    PHILANTHROPY 

Next  to  ignorance,  poverty  is  the  most  serious  of  the  Peking 
problems.  A  Chinese  family  of  five  can  be  self-supporting  on  an 
income  of  $100  silver  a  year,  but,  even  so,  the  police  list  11.95 
percent  of  the  population  as  "poor"  or  "very  poor" — really 
below  the  subsistence  minimum,  the  "very  poor"  practically  on  the 
verge  of  starvation.  Poor  relief  is  far  from  adequate.  Many 
families  have  to  go  through  the  winter  without  warm  clothes, 
and  some  do  not  even  have  enough  to  give  each  member  of  the 
family  a  thin  suit.  For  food,  many  of  these  families  depend 
upon  private  or  government  charity.  The  Metropolitan  District, 
the  Military  Guard,  and  the  police  have  established  13  centers  in 
and  around  the  city  where  during  the  cold  months  a  few  ounces 
of  hot  porridge  are  given  to  all  who  come.  During  some  months, 
over  700,000  meals  are  given  away.  The  average  cost  of  each 
meal  is  1.2  cents.  Such  help,  however,  is  entirely  palliative.  No 
effort  is  made  to  determine  whether  or  not  the  recipients  are 
worthy;  the  fact  that  they  apply  is  taken  as  evidence  of  their 
need,  and  nothing  is  done  to  remove  the  cause  of  their  destitution. 

There  are  various  philanthropic  institutions  in  the  city,  but 
these  are  unable  even  to  begin  to  meet  the  need.  They  serve  rather 
as  demonstrations  of  what  can  be  done  and  at  best  care  for  only 
a  few  of  those  who  ought  to  have  institutional  care.  Since  the 
establishment  of  the  Republic,  the  police  and  other  official  boards 
have  taken  over  the  management  of  practically  all  the  charitable 
institutions ;  so  at  present  private  philanthropy  is  doing  only  a 
minimum  of  institutional  work.  Many  new  private  institutions 
will  in  all  probability  be  opened  in  the  near  future,  and  the  great 
question  now  is:  What  will  be  the  methods  and  aims  of  these 
new  institutions?  Will  they  follow  the  old  Chinese  system,  or 
will  they  adapt  successful  western  methods  to  Chinese  life? 

The  problem  of  raising  the  general  standard  of  living  and 
removing  many  of  the  underlying  causes  of  destitution  will  be 
solved  only  as  China  develops,  as  education  becomes  more  wide- 
spread, and  as  there  are  more  and  more  industrial  opportunities. 


INTRODUCTION  AND  CONCLUSIONS  39 

PRISONS 

The  model  prison  movement  is  one  of  the  most  hopeful  of 
the  many  that  are  developing  in  Peking.  A  few  men  working 
toward  an  ideal  have  accomplished  great  things  in  spite  of  the 
disturbed  conditions  of  the  country. 

The  movement  began  in  1903  when  the  Viceroy  of  Shensi 
memorialized  the  throne  against  the  flogging,  banishment  and 
transportation  of  prisoners.  The  first  model  prison  in  Peking 
was  started  only  in  1909,  but  there  are  now  4  in  the  city 
with  accommodations  for  2,127  prisoners,  while  throughout  China 
there  are  39  capable  of  caring  for  14,085  men.  In  these  prisons 
the  men  are  given  good  physical  surroundings — clean,  well  venti- 
lated, well  lighted  cells,  in  well  built  buildings,  clean  beds,  clean 
clothes,  a  diet  adjusted  to  their  physical  condition  and  the  type 
of  work  they  are  doing,  good  industrial  training  in  trades  they 
can  use  after  they  are  released,  and  educational  and  moral  train- 
ing. Furthermore  the  wardens  of  the  various  prisons  have  organ- 
ized a  society  to  care  for  the  prisoners  after  their  release  and 
until  they  are  readjusted  to  normal  life. 

It  is  one  of  the  paradoxes  of  Chinese  life  that  one  can  find  in 
the  same  city  model  prisons  and  those  in  which  the  old  conditions 
still  prevail.  Several  prisons  in  Peking  are  old  style  with  poor 
living  quarters,  no  work,  and  bad  sanitary  conditions.  But  even 
these  are  called  "reformed  prisons,"  for  they  are  much  better  than 
they  used  to  be. 

The  success  of  the  model  prison  movement  ought  to  encour- 
age those  who  would  start  other  reform  movements  in  Peking 
and  China,  for  even  a  few  men  working  together  can  influence 
the  entire  country. 

THE  TENG  SHIH   K/OU  DISTRICT 

The  study  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  district  is  the  beginning  of 
a  complete  community  survey.  The  district,  a  small  section  of 
Peking  set  off  from  the  rest  of  the  city  by  four  loo-foot  high- 
ways, has  within  its  boundaries  stores,  workshops,  residences, 
young  and  old,  rich  and  poor,  and  practically  all  the  social  prob- 
lems that  one  can  find  in  any  city.  Peking  has  no  real  slums,  but 
in  almost  any  district  ..rich  and  poor  can  be  found  living  close 
together.  Chinese  homes  are  surrounded  by  walls  and  the  people 
ordinarily  pay  but  little  attention  to  the  way  their  neighbors 
live. 

The  fundamental  figures,  based  on  the  police  census,  show 
that  7,946  persons  are  living  in  the  district,  or  an  average  of 
63,000  per  square  mile.  The  most  crowded  conditions  are  nat- 


40  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

urally  found  on  the  business  streets.  On  one  of  them  63  percent 
of  the  buildings  have  a  frontage  of  less  than  13  feet  and  only 
6  percent  have  over  24  feet.  Of  the  population  of  the  district 
75.4  percent  are  males.  As  few  women  are  in  industry,  the  pro- 
portion of  men  is  particularly  high  on  the  streets  where  business 
predominates,  over  82  percent  on  all  of  the  eight  business  streets 
and  on  some  a  complete  100  percent.  On  the  streets  where 
residences  predominate  there  is  a  much  larger  proportion  of 
women.  On  two  they  are  in  a  majority  (53.5  percent  and  50.5 
percent),  while  on  most  of  the  other  residence  streets  between 
40  and  50  percent  are  females. 

Forty-six  of  the  families  (233  persons)  are  listed  by  the 
police  as  destitute.  Almost  70  percent  of  these  families  are  on 
three  streets,  but  some  poor  families  can  be  found  on  nine  of  the 
twenty-eight  streets  of  the  district.  Nearly  three-quarters  of 
the  poor  families  are  Buddhists,  and  only  22  percent  are  Con- 
fucianists.  Of  all  the  families  in  the  district  63  percent  are 
Confucianists  and  only  25  percent  Buddhists.  Confucianism  is 
very  evidently  the  religion  of  those  with  education  and  financial 
resources. 

The  detailed  study  of  the  people  living  on  one  street  made  by 
Mrs.  Fannie  S.  Wickes  shows  a  need  for  every  sort  of  social 
agency.  There  are  poverty,  ignorance,  disease,  feeble-minded- 
ness,  immorality,  on  one  street  fifty  yards  long. 

CHURCH    SURVEY 

The  survey  of  the  families  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou,  Pei  T'ang 
and  Ch'i  Hua  Men  churches  of  the  American  Board  Mission 
gives  the  sociological  statistics  for  a  group  of  Chinese  families 
and  shows  to  what  extent  the  churches  are  reaching  the  members 
of  the  families  with  which  they  are  in  touch.  The  325  families 
have  on  the  average  3.7  members — a  total  of  1,217  persons.  Only 
52  percent  of  this  group  are  males,  whereas  the  population  of 
Peking  is  63.5  percent  male.  The  study  shows  that  practically 
all  Chinese  are  married  at  some  time,  as  -only  25  percent  of 
those  over  15  years  of  age  are  unmarried,  and  of  these  83  percent 
are  under  26  years  of  age  and  92  percent  are  still  under 
31.  The  birth  rate  is  26.5  and  the  death  rate  is  only  13  per 
thousand,  though  this  latter  is  undoubtedly  too  low.  Only  6.8 
percent  of  the  families  reported  that  their  income  was  over  $1,000 
a  year,  while  28.6  percent  received  less  than  $100  a  year.  The 
latter  may  be  poor  but  they  are  not  necessarily  destitute,  as  it  is 
possible  for  a  family  of  five  to  live  on  $100  a  year.  The  average 
money  income  of  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  families  is  $1.96  per  person 
per  month.  Only  22  percent  of  the  church  families  own  their 


INTRODUCTION  AND  CONCLUSIONS  41 

homes.  The  average  rent  paid  is  $1.25  per  room  per  month. 
The  Ch'i  Hua  Men  families  spend  an  average  of  15  percent  of 
their  money  income  for  rent.  The  literacy  of  the  church  fam- 
ilies is  very  high  and  shows  the  result  of  the  educational  work  of 
the  missions.  Ten  persons  have  studied  abroad,  while  only  15 
percent  of  those  who  are  over  nine  years  of  age  are  known  to  be 
unable  to  read.  The  maximum  possible  amount  of  illiteracy  is 
33  percent;  for  males,  19  percent;  and  for  females,  50  percent. 
723  persons  (60  percent)  are  related  to  the  church  as  inquirers, 
probationers  or  baptized  members,  a  remarkably  good  record 
when  it  is  remembered  that  the  church  has  been  in  touch  with 
some  of  these  families  but  a  short  time.  Of  those  who  belong 
to  the  church  60  percent  say  they  are  attending  service  at  least 
once  a  month,  50  percent  are  contributing  regularly  once  a 
month,  and  34  percent  are  attending  Sunday  School.  Only  10 
percent  of  those  who  are  related  to  the  church  are  giving  it  any 
voluntary  service.  These  are  preaching,  teaching  or  acting  as  an 
officer  of  the  church.  There  is  no  social  work  that  the  people 
think  of  as  church  work  and  it  is  in  this  field  that  there  seems  to 
be  the  greatest  need  in  the  mission  program  if  the  church  mem- 
bers are  to  be  able  to  give  expression  to  the  desire  for  service 
that  is  developed  by  their  Christian  experience. 

RELIGIOUS    WORK 

Peking  is  an  important  center  for  the  ancient  religions  of 
China — Confucianism,  Buddhism,  Lamaism,  Taoism,  and  Mo- 
hammedanism— and  is  one  of  the  principal  centers  of  Roman 
Catholic,  Greek  Orthodox  and  Protestant  missionary  effort. 

Among  Peking's  936  shrines  and  temples  are  some  of  the 
finest  and  best  known  in  the  country,  particularly  the  Temple 
and  Altar  of  Heaven,  and  the  wonderful  Temple  of  Confucius. 
Just  how  many  adherents  these  old  religions  have  it  is  impossible 
to  say  as  a  man  can  be  a  good  Confucianist,  Buddhist  and  Taoist 
all  at  the  same  time.  Even  so,  they  seem  to  be  losing  their  hold 
on  the  people. 

Although  Mohammedanism  has  been  in  China  for  a  thousand 
years,  the  Mohammedan  communities  have  not  been  absorbed  as 
have  the  Jews.  They  still  have  some  twenty  mosques  in  Peking 
and  observe  the  distinctive  customs  of  the  faith  of  Islam.  It  is 
estimated  that  there  are  25,000  Mohammedans  in  the  city. 

The  oldest  Christian  mission  in  Peking  was  founded  in  1293 
by  Giovanni  Di  Monte  Corvino  of  the  Jesuit  Order  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  The  Pei  Tang  (North  Cathedral),  a  beautiful 
stone  building  with  a  wonderfully  fine  compound,  is  the  most 
striking  of  Peking's  churches.  This  and  the  four  other  Catholic 


42  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

churches  have  a  membership  of  9,744.  The  Sisters  of  Charity, 
the  Franciscan  Missionaries  of  Mary,  and  the  Sisters  of  St. 
Joseph  are  in  Peking  working  in  churches,  schools,  orphanages, 
their  Jenzeutang  Orphanage  being  one  of  the  best  conducted 
philanthropic  institutions  in  China,  old  people's  homes,  dispen- 
saries and  hospitals.  Some  of  the  sisters  are  also  nursing  in  one 
of  the  government  hospitals. 

The  Russian  Orthodox  Mission  began  work  in  Peking  in 
1685,  when  a  priest  was  brought  captive  from  Albazin  on  the 
Amur  River,  and  has  been  there  ever  since,  as  it  did  not  share  in 
the  hatred  of  the  court  that  drove  out  the  Catholic  missions 
between  1722  and  1735.  The  total  number  of  converts  in  China 

is  5,587- 

Protestant  missions  have  been  in  Peking  only  since  1861. 
Ten  mission  boards  and  7  religious  societies  are  now  repre- 
sented in  the  city  by  1 88  foreign  men  and  women  and  346  em- 
ployed Chinese  workers.  The  22  churches  and  chapels  of  Peking 
have  a  membership  of  some  five  thousand. 

The  Chinese  have  organized  three  independent  churches  with 
a  membership  of  783,  and  120  on  probation. 

The  educational  work  of  the  missions  and  Chinese  churches 
is  being  carried  on  in  no  schools  of  all  grades  with  7,644  stu- 
dents. 

A  tendency  towards  union  is  one  of  the  outstanding  features 
of  the  mission  work  in  Peking.  Not  only  are  three  or  more 
missions  working  together  in  many  of  the  educational  institu- 
tions, Kindergarten  Training  School,  Bible  Teachers'  Training 
School,  Nurses'  Training  School,  Normal  School,  Women's  Col- 
lege, Men's  University,  Women's  Medical  College,  Theological 
Seminary,  Language  School,  but  they  have  even  joined  in  evan- 
gelistic work.  The  Peking  Christian  Student  Work  Union  was 
organized  in  1918  to  direct  the  work  of  the  various  missions  and 
churches  for  middle  school  and  college  students.  The  committee 
is  made  up  of  seventeen  Chinese  and  foreign  workers,  repre- 
sentatives of  five  mission  boards,  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  the  China  Medical  Board  and  the  independent 
Chinese  churches.  The  program  of  the  committee  includes  social 
meetings,  educational  classes,  lectures,  religious  discussion  groups 
and  Bible  classes  in  twelve  centers. 

The  Peking  branch  of  the  "China-for-Christ"  movement  is  the 
latest  development  in  union  effort.  It  is  directed  by  a  demo- 
cratically elected  executive  council  of  15,  but  the  final  authority  is 
in  the  hands  of  a  representative  committee  of  100.  The  plans  of 
the  movement  cover  city-wide  evangelization,  religious  education, 
social  service,  systematic  giving. 


INTRODUCTION  AND  CONCLUSIONS  43 

COMMUNITY   SERVICE  GROUP 

The  Community  Service  Group  of  Police  District  Inside 
Left  2,  consisting  of  225  volunteer  workers  organized  to  develop 
a  social  program  for  a  part  of  the  police  district,  is  a  small  but 
significant  outgrowth  of  the  survey,  particularly  of  the  intensive 
studies  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  District  and  the  membership  of 
the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  Church.  During  the  year  1919-20  the  group 
developed  work  along  several  lines.  Two  free  night  schools,  one 
for  boys  and  one  for  girls,  were  taught  by  college  men  and 
women;  two  free  playgrounds,  one  for  boys  and  one  for  girls, 
were  conducted  by  leaders  who  were  given  special  training  by 
the  Y.  'M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.  physical  directors.  A  public 
health  campaign  carried  on  by  80  volunteer  lectures  reached  over 
8,000  people  in  two  weeks;  an  industrial  workshop  for  women 
and  a  poorhouse  for  men  were  run  during  the  winter;  a  com- 
munity newspaper,  printed  in  the  vernacular,  was  published  every 
ten  days.  A  start  was  made  in  the  development  of  organized 
charity.  But  even  more  important  than  the  actual  work  accom- 
plished was  the  interest  taken  by  a  great  many  of  the  volunteer 
workers  in  the  problems  of  their  community  and  city,  and  the 
community  spirit  that  was  engendered  in  the  district.  It  was  a 
small  demonstration  but  it  showed  the  value  of  the  survey  and 
confirmed  our  conviction  that  there  are,  in  Peking  and  in  China, 
a  large  number  of  people  who  are  willing  and  even  eager  to  unite 
on  constructive  social  work  once  the  facts  are  known  and  a 
definite  program  is  developed. 


CHAPTER  II 
HISTORY 

The  beginnings  of  Chinese  history  are  hidden  in  the  mists  of 
four  thousand  years,  and  to  accurately  trace  the  story  of  any  one 
locality  through  all  that  time  is  well-nigh  impossible.  Kingdoms 
have  risen  and  fallen ;  dynasty  has  succeeded  dynasty ;  cities  have 
been  built  and  destroyed,  records  have  been  lost  and  tradition 
forgotten  until  now  no  one  can  say  how  many  villages  or  cities 
have  occupied  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Peking.  The  books 
and  records  that  are  still  left,  however,  do  tell  of  six  different 
cities,  whose  walls  have  inclosed  some  of  the  land  now  within 
the  walls  of  Peking,  and  these  six,  in  their  history,  tell  the  story 
of  what  over  three  thousand  years  have  brought  to  the  place 
now  occupied  by  China's  capital. 

The  first  city  that  is  mentioned  as  having  been  built  on  the 
site  of  the  present  Peking  is  the  city  of  Ch'i.  In  1121  B.  C.  it 
was  given  by  the  head  of  the  newly  founded  Chou  Dynasty  to 
the  descendants  of  the  famous  Emperor  Yao,  the  first  ruler  of 
China.  The  exact  location  of  this  city  of  Ch'i  cannot  now  be 
determined  from  the  old  records,  but  the  Emperor  Ch'ien  Lung 
(1735-1765),  from  a  study  of  the  documents  available  in  his  day, 
satisfied  himself  that  he  had  found  the  exact  location  of  the 
ancient  city,  and  on  the  earth  wall  five  li x  north  of  the  present 
Peking  he  erected  a  white  marble  tablet  on  which  he  stated  that 
that  was  the  location  of  one  of  the  gates  of  the  ancient  city  of 
Ch'i.  Practically  nothing  is  known  of  this  city  except  that  it 
was  the  capital  of  the  feudal  state  of  Yen,  the  most  northerly 
district  under  the  control  of  the  Chou  Emperors.  Yen  acted  as 
a  buffer  state  against  the  nomad  tartar  tribes  of  the  north  and  is 
particularly  spoken  of  in  the  records  of  539  B.  C.  as  possessing 
a  great  number  of  horses.  But  the  records  also  say  that  the 
state  never  was  strong  even  though  it  had  many  horses. 

In  221  B.  C.  Prince  Chung,  a  ruler  of  a  state  on  the*  western 
frontier,  marched  east,  attacked  the  "Seven  States"  or  small 
countries  into  which  China  had  divided  at  the  end  of  the  Chou 
Dynasty  in  249  B.  C.,  brought  an  end  to  the  feudal  war  and 
anarchy,  secured  control  of  a  united  China  and  established  him- 
self as  the  first  Emperor  of  the  Chin  Dynasty.  During  his  reign 

1  Five  li  =  1.78  miles. 

44 


HISTORY  45 

the  scattered  fortifications  of  the  north  were  united  into  the  Great 
Wall  of  China.  But  though  military  monuments  grew,  Prince 
Chung,  or  Emperor  Ch'in  Shih  Huang  Ti,  as  he  was  later  called, 
made  every  effort  to  remove  all  literary  monuments  of  the  past. 
He  ordered  all  books  and  records  to  be  destroyed  so  that  Chinese 
history  might  start  from  the  beginning  of  his  reign.  It  is  only 
because  some  of  the  old  scholars  hid  their  books  and  suffered 
punishment  for  their  acts  that  many  of  the  classics  and  records 
of  old  China  are  preserved.  Ch'in  Shih  Huang  Ti  captured, 
pillaged  and  completely  destroyed  the  city  of  Ch'i  and  made  the 
state  of  Yen  one  of  the  thirty  districts  of  his  new  Empire. 

History  does  not  again  mention  any  particular  city  on  the 
site  of  Peking  until  70  A.  D.,  when  under  the  Han  Dynasty  the 
city  of  Ch'i  was  rebuilt.  The  new  city  at  first  was  also  called  the 
City  of  Yen,  in  memory  of  the  former  kingdom,  but  later  was 
given  the  name  of  Yu  Chou.  Yu  Chou  is  definitely  located  by 
existing  records,  for  it  is  stated  that  the  present  Hsi  An  Men  or 
West  Gate  of  the  Imperial  City  is  five  li  northwest  of  the  city  of 
Yu  Chou  .and  that  the  temple  Min  Chung  Ssu,  now  called  Ta 
Yuan  Ssu,  was  built  in  the  southeast  corner  of  Yu  Chou  in  645 
A.  D.  during  the  T'ang  Dynasty. 

When  the  Han  Dynasty  ended  in  221  A.  D.,  Yu  Chou  was 
handed  about  from  kingdom  to  kingdom  and  was  for  some  200 
years  under  the  control  of  the  tartars.  The  city  survived  this 
"Period  of  Darkness,"  however, >nd  when  China  was  once  more 
united  under  the  Sui  and  T'ang  Dynasties,  Yu  Chou  served  as 
the  residence  of  a  military  governor. 

Yu  Chou  again  came  under  the  control  of  the  barbarians 
when,  during  the  first  half  of  the  Tenth  Century,  a  Chinese 
Emperor  ceded  sixteen  districts  to  the  Khitans  in  gratitude  for 
their  help  in  placing  him  upon  the  throne.  Later,  under  the  Sung 
Emperors,  the  Chinese  attempted  to  regain  these  lost  districts 
but  were  only  partially  successful.  Their  armies  came  as  far  as 
the  Kao  Liang  River,  which  is  now  the  canal  from  the  new  Sum- 
mer Palace  to  the  moat  around  the  walls  of  Peking,  but  failed  in 
their  attempt  to  capture  the  city.  The  Chinese  were  badly  de- 
feated and  the  Sung  Emperor  was  forced  to  flee  for  his  life. 
Later  attempts  to  regain  this  territory  were  even  less  successful 
and  soon  the  army  of  the  Khitans  invaded  the  territory  of  the 
Sungs  and  forced  them  to  pay  tribute  to  the  emperors  of  the 
north. 

The  city  of  Yu  Chou  was  made  one  of  the  capitals  of  the 
Liao  (Iron)  Dynasty  established  by  the  Khitans,  and  in  937 
A.  D.  was  given  the  name  of  NanjChing  or  South  Capital.  It 
was  also  known  by  the  name  of  Hsi'CRin  Fu.  Unsatisfied  with 
the,  old  city  of  Yu  Chou  the  Khitans  destroyed  it  in  986  A.  D., 


46  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

and  built  a  larger  and  more  beautiful  city  for  their  capital.  This 
was  located  west  and  south  of  the  old  city  of  Yu  Chou.  The 
new  walls  were  thirty-six  li  (thirteen  miles)  in  length  and  thirty 
feet  high,  with  two  gates  on  each  side;  three  lines  of  canals 
surrounded  the  city;  the  Emperor's  Palace  was  located  in  the 
southwest  corner  of  the  city;  and  there  were  910  buildings  inside 
the  walls  that  were  forty  feet  or  more  in  height.  Even  to-day 
remains  of  the  old  walls  can  still  be  seen  near  the  temple  of  Po 
Yun  Kuan,  while  the  Liu  Li  Ch'ang  of  the  present  Peking  used 
to  be  a  suburb  called  Hai  Huang  Ts'un  on  the  east  of  Nan  Ching, 
or  Yen  Ching,  as  the  city  was  called  after  1013  A.  D. 

The  Liao  or  Iron  Dynasty  was  called  upon  to  defend  itself 
in  1114  when  Akuta,  a  chief  of  a  northern  tribe  of  Manchuria, 
established  the  Chin  or  Gold  Empire.  The  Iron  went  down  to 
defeat  before  the  Gold,  and  their  capital,  Yen  Ching,  was  cap- 
tured by  Akuta  in  1122.  Being  occupied  with  incursions  into  the 
territory  of  the  Sung  Emperors  to  the  south,  Akuta  found  Yen 
Ching  well  fitted  to  be  the  capital  city  of  his  empire  and  made 
his  home  there.  He  did  not  destroy  the  old  Liao  city  of  Yen 
Ching,  but  added  to  it  on  the  east  a  city  that  was  nearly  as  large 
as  the  old  one.  Fan  Ta  Chung  in  his  book,  Lao  P'ei  Lu,  says 
that  in  the  building  of  the  new  city  800,000  coolies  and  400,000 
soldiers  were  employed  and  that  many  of  them  died  because  of 
the  strenuous  work.  The  palace  of  the  new  capital  was  decorated 
with  gold  and  magnificent  colors.  One  beam  is  said  to  have  cost 
the  Emperor  $20,000.  The  Emperor's  carriage  was  so  large  and 
heavy  that  it  required  five  hundred  men  to  draw  it.  Not  only 
was  the  city  itself  beautified  and  made  suitable  for  the  residence 
of  an  emperor,  but  to  the  north  of  the  walls  a  large  summer 
palace  and  gardens  were  laid  out  on  what  is  now  the  site  of 
Central  Park  and  the  President's  Palace.  Chung  Tu  or  Middle 
Capital  was  the  name  given  to  this  new  city,  to  distinguish  it 
from  the  other  Chin  capitals,  which  were  Shan  Ching  on  the 
north  and  Pien  Ching  or  the  modern  K'ai  Feng  Fu  on  the  south. 

The  wealth  and  luxury  of  the  capital  of  the  Golden  Empire 
attracted  the  eyes  of  the  Mongolian  tribes  of  the  north,  and 
Jenghiz  Khan,  though  at  first  bought  off  with  presents  and 
tribute,  laid  siege  to  Chung  Tu  in  1215,  captured  the  east  and 
west  cities,  looted  the  palaces  and  treasury,  and  set  them  on  fire. 
The  buildings  burned  for  over  a  month.  Chung  Tu  was  made 
the  capital  of  a  new  Mongolian  province  by  Jenghiz  Khan,  who 
then  turned  to  his  invasion  of  central  Asia  and  Russia.  Kublai 
Khan,  the  grandson  of  Jenghiz  Khan,  completed  the  destruction 
of  the  Chin  Empire  and  established  the  Yuan  Dynasty. 

Chung  Tu  having  been  destroyed,  the  Khans  built  for  them- 
selves a  new  capital  larger  and  more  glorious  than  anything  ever 


PEKING   WALL   AND    MOAT. 

Finished    in    1435    it    furnished   good   protection   in   the   revolution    of    1920    and 
saved   the   city   from   looting. 


GATEWAY   TO    FORMER    IMPERIAL    PALACE. 
Now  residence  of  the  President. 


' 


T  AI  HO   TIEN. 


Imperial  Throne  Room  in  the  Forbidden  City.  The  troops  are  part  of  the  10,000 
paraded  in  the  Forbidden  City  for  China's  celebration  of  the  Armistice,  Novem- 
ber 28,  1918. 


GATEWAY  TO  FORBIDDEN  CITY. 

With  its  big  courtyards,  white  marble  balconies,  yellow  tiled,  red-walled  palaces, 
the  Forbidden  City  was  a  wonderful  site  for  China's  celebration  of  the 
Armistice.  The  home  of  the  old  Autocracy  was  the  scene  of  the  rejoicing  of 
the  new  Democracy. 


\ 


TH^XUAN^APITAL 

IITAR  y@R^  NORT: 


7\ 


Figure  I :     Peking  under 

1.  CITY  OF  CH'I.  4. 
Founded   1121   B.C.     Destroyed 

221  B.C. 

Capital    of    Kingdom    of    Yen      5. 
(723-221    B.C.)    under   Chou 
Dynasty  (1122-255  B.C.). 

2.  CITY  OF  Yu  CHOU. 

Founded  70  A.D.  by  Han  Dy- 
nasty (206  B.C.-22I  A.D.) 
and  called  Yen.  6. 

Called  Yu  Chou  under  Tang 
Dynasty  (618-907). 

Destroyed  by  Liao  Dynasty  986. 

3.  LIAO  CAPITAL. 

Builtp86.  FirstnamedNanChing. 
Called  Yen  Ching  after  1013. 
Captured  by  Akuta  1122. 

47 


Different  Dynasties 

CHIN  CAPITAL. 

Founded  1151.  Named  ChungTu. 
Captured  by  Jenghiz  Khan  1215. 
YUAN  CAPITAL. 
Made  the  Yuan  Capital  by  Ku- 

blai  Khan  in  1264  and  named 

Khanbalig. 

Called  Ta  Tu  by  the  Chinese. 
Captured  by  Mings  1368. 
PRESENT  DAY  PEKING  (1919). 
Founded     by     Ming     Emperor 

Hung  Wu  (1368-1399). 
Walls  covered  with  bricks  1435. 
Chinese  City  built  1564. 
Captured  by  Ch'ings  1644. 


60  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

eight  weeks  (June  13-August  16)  besieged  a  group  of  foreigners 
and  Chinese  shut  up  in  the  Legation  Quarter  and  in  the  compound 
of  the  Catholic  Cathedral.  Lack  of  unanimity  on  the  part  of 
the  Chinese  prevented  an  overwhelming  assault  by  the  besiegers 
and  made  it  possible  for  the  small  forces  of  the  foreigners  to 
hold  out  until  relief  could  be  brought  by  armed  forces  that  had 
to  fight  their  way  from  Tientsin  to  Peking.  When  the  foreign 
armies  captured  the  city  the  Empress  Dowager  fled,  leaving  one 
of  the  princes  to  meet,  as  best  he  migEt^  the  hard  demands  of  the 
conquerors. 

In  1911  the  Chinese  revolted  against  the  rule  of  the  Manchus 
and  succeeded  in  deposing  the  Emperor.  Then,  instead  of  estab- 
lishing another  Chinese  Dynasty,  they  set  up  the  Republic  of 
China,  in  which  Chinese,  Manchus,  'Mongolians,  Tibetans  and 
Mohammedans  might  all  share  on  an  equal  footing.  Sun  Yat 
Sen  was  elected  Provisional  President  of  the  Republic  and  an 
elected  and  representative  Parliament  met  in  Peking.  Yuan 
Shih  K'ai,  a  former  adviser  of  the  Emperor,  was  elected  as  the 
first  President  of  the  new  Republic.  In  1915  he  dissolved  the 
provisional  Parliament  and  attempted  to  make  himself  Emperor, 
but  the  entire  country  flamed  into  revolt  and  he  had  to  relinquish 
the  crown. 

In  1917  Chang  Hsun,  a  general  of  the  old  Empire,  made  an 
attempt  to  restore  the  ex-Emperor  Hsuan  T'ung,  who  had  been 
living  quietly  in  the  Forbidden  City  since  the  revolution  in  1912, 
but  the  coup  d'etat  was  a  complete  failure.  Chang  Hsun  received 
no  assistance  from  the  Republican  troops  and  twenty-four  hours 
of  street  fighting  and  one  or  two  bombs  from  an  aeroplane  con- 
vinced him  that  the  country  did  not  desire  the  return  of  the 
Manchus. 

Revolution  and  gradual  change  have  altered  tremendously 
the  political  aspect  of  Peking  in  the  past  few  years,  but  the 
material  conditions  have  changed  perhaps  even  more,  though  the 
change  has  been  slow  and  gradual.  Instead  of  a  city  that  would 
well  pass  as  the  ancient  capital  of  an  old  Empire,  Peking  is 
rapidly  adopting  modern  ways.  Electric  lights  and  running 
water,  paved  streets  and  sewer  systems,  railway  trains,  auto- 
mobiles and  even  aeroplanes  can  be  found  in  the  city,  and  Peking 
is  more  and  more  the  capital  city  of  a  present  day  Republic. 


CHAPTER  III 
GEOGRAPHY 

Peking,  and  the  cities  that  have  preceded  it,  Khanbalig, 
Chung  Tu,  Yen  Ching,  Yu  Chou  and  Ch'i,  have  all  been  built 
in  latitude  39°  54'  N.,  longitude  116°  28'  E.  This  is  the  same 
parallel  as  San  Francisco  and  Philadelphia,  a  little  south  of 
Madrid  and  Naples  and  just  half  way  around  the  world  from 
Halifax,  Nova  Scotia. 

Peking  is  situated  in  almost  the  exact  center  of  the  Province 
of  Chihli,  the  most  northeasterly  of  the  18  provinces  of  China 
proper.  To  the  south  and  east  of  the  city  stretches  a  flat,  level, 
coastal  plain,  built  up  by  the  Pai  Ho  (White  River)  and  the 
Huang  Ho  (Yellow  River),  the  two  chief  rivers  of  North  China. 
This  plain  is  so  level  that,  in  the  91  miles  from  the  coast  of  the 
Bay  of  Chihli  to  Peking,  it  rises  only  122.3  ^eet,  and  the  summer 
floods  of  1917  covered  parts  of  103  of  the  120  hsien  (counties) 
of  the  province,  but  its  loose,  easily  worked,  water  laid  soil 
makes  possible  the  crops  that  feed  the  twenty  millions  of  people 
living  in  the  province.  To  the  north  and  west  of  the  city,  the 
land  rises  rapidly,  so  that  within  15  miles  on  the  west  and  25 
miles  on  the  north  are  hills  2,600  feet  high,  while  35  miles  to  the 
northwest  is  the  Great  Wall  of  China,  built  on  the  top  of  moun- 
tains over  4,000  feet  high. 

This  combination  of  hills  and  plains  gives  Peking  a  climate 
that,  although  it  has  extremes  of  temperature,  is  healthful  be- 
cause of  its  dryness  and  large  amount  of  sunshine.  The  Mon- 
golian Plateau  to  the  northwest  acts  as  a  reservoir  of  cold  that 
starts  the  wind  blowing  from  the  north  and  northwest  in  winter 
and  from  the  south  and  southwest  in  summer.  The  direction  of 
the  wind  changes  with  such  regularity  that  the  Chinese  have  a 
saying  that  the  wind  follows  the  season;  that  it  blows  from  the 
north  in  winter,  from  the  east  in  the  spring,  from  the  south  in 
the  summer  and  from  the  west  in  the  fall. 

Inasmuch  as  the  winter  winds  come  almost  constantly  from 
the  plains  to  the  north  and  northwest,  Peking  has  little  or  no 
precipitation  during  the  months  of  cool  weather.  Day  after  day 
is  clear  and  bright ;  and,  although  the  thermometer  sometimes 
registers  o°  F.  and  there  are  two  months  of  steady  freezing 
weather  during  the  winter,  the  warmth  of  the  sun  makes  it 


52  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

possible  for  the  population,  many  of  whom  are  lacking  in  clothing 
and  fuel,  to  endure  the  cold  that  would  otherwise  be  fatal. 

The  winds  that  come  from  the  ocean  in  summer  time  bring 
with  them  large  amounts  of  moisture,  and  during  the  months 
of  June,  July  and  August  rain  falls  on  more  than  half  the  days. 
This  moisture,  combined  with  the  heat,  the  thermometer  some- 
times reaching  104°  F.,  makes  the  summer  climate  of  Peking 
moist  and  uncomfortable.  The  foreigners  all  have  to  be  careful 
to  protect  themselves  from  the  sun,  but  there  is  but  little  sun- 
stroke or  heat  prostration  among  the  Chinese. 

Peking  is  supposed  to  be  the  dryest  place  in  Chihli  Province, 
for  tradition  says  that,  before  building  the  first  city  that  occupied 
the  site  of  Peking,  the  ruler  of  the  country  had  the  astrologers 
discover  the  dryest  point  in  the  Province,  so  that  he  might  build 
his  capital  there.  The  average  rainfall  for  the  city  is  approxi- 
mately 20  inches,  though  for  the  year  1918-19  the  precipitation 
was  only  15.52  inches.  Twelve  and  forty-two  hundredths  inches 
of  this  fell  on  49  days  during  the  months  of  June,  July  and 
August,  and  during  the  year  there  was  some  rain  or  snow  on  92 
days.  February  was  the  only  month  of  the  year  during  which 
there  was  no  precipitation. 

The  dryness  of  the  winter,  the  constant  winds  and  loose,  light 
soil  combine  to  give  Peking  its  world  famous  dust  storms.  Local 
storms  come  often,  but  seldom  last  more  than  part  of  a  day.  A 
strong  wind  picks  up  the  soil  of  the  surrounding  country  or  the 
dust  of  the  city  streets  and  whirls  it  toward  the  southeast  corner 
of  the  city.  Even  though  these  storms  are  short,  they  manage 
to  cover  everything  with  a  layer  of  grayish-black  dust,  and  make 
traveling  on  the  streets  most  uncomfortable.  Big  storms,  some- 
times lasting  three  days,  bring  with  them,  not  the  black  and 
grayish  dust  of  Peking,  but  a  yellow  dust  from  the  north  and 
northwest.  The  sky  turns  yellow,  the  sun  is  lost  in  the  haze, 
and  everything  in  the  city  is  covered  with  a  thick  layer  of  fine 
yellow  dust.  Travel  on  the  streets  is  anything  but  pleasant,  and 
sometimes  is  almost  impossible,  the  air  is  so  filled.  Layer  after 
layer  of  dust  laid  over  the  city  gives  it  a  grayish  color  and  rapidly 
dulls  and  deadens  the  brilliant  colors  of  the  palaces  and  temples. 

While  the  difference  between  maximum  and  minimum  tem- 
peratures is  over  100°  F.,  the  average  temperature  for  the  entire 
year  is  53°  F.,  the  average  for  the  different  months  ranging  from 
18.9°  F.  for  January  to  78°  F.  for  July.  The  average  daily  range 
of  temperature  is  20°  F. ;  January  has  an  average  daily  dif- 
ference between  maximum  and  minimum  of  15.5°  F.,  and 
October  24.5°.  Complete  Meteorological  Tables  are  given  in  the 
Appendix. 

Peking  is  one  of  the  few  capitals  of  the  world  that  is  not 


GEOGRAPHY 


53 


MONGOL     I    A 


B       H 


Figure  2:     Province  of  Chihli 

located  on  a  river  of  considerable  size.  A  small  stream,  the 
Hu  Cheng  Ho,  does  flow  through  the  moat  around  the  city 
walls,  but  it  has  been  brought  to  Peking  by  artificial  means. 
The  nearest  river  of  any  size  is  the  Hun  Ho,  nine  miles  to  the 
southeast,  while  the  nearest  navigable  stream  is  the  Pai  Ho  or 
White  River,  fifteen  miles  to  the  east. 

Peking  had  no  water  communication  with  the  rest  of  China 
until  the  reign  of  Kublai  Khan.  In  1280-1283,  he  extended  the 
Grand  Canal  from  the  Yellow  River  to  Tientsin,  and  connected 
it  with  Peking  by  means  of  the  Pai  Ho  and  a  small  canal  that 
extends  the  fifteen  miles  from  Peking  to  the  river.  In  this  way, 
it  was  possible  for  the  tribute  rice  from  the  provinces  to  be 
shipped  to  Peking  by  boat,  while  goods  from  the  capital  could 
go  900  miles  south  to  the  southern  terminus  of  the  Grand  Canal 


54  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

at  Hangchow  in  Chekiang  Province,  or,  as  the  canal  crosses  the 
Yangtze  River,  to  any  point  on  the  2,000  navigable  miles  of  that 
river. 

During  the  thousand  years  that  Peking  has  been  the  capital 
of  China,  roads  have  been  built  connecting  it  with  the  rest  of 
the  country.  Now,  thirteen  National  highways  radiate  from  it 
to  the  chief  cities  of  the  provinces.  The  longest  of  these  roads 
stretches  3,439  miles  west  to  Kashgar  in  Chinese  Turkestan. 
Others  lead  to  Lhasa,  Yunnan fu,  Canton,  Foochow,  Hangchow, 
Hankow.  Throughout  North  China,  where  horses  and  camels 
are  used  for  transportation,  the  roads  are  traveled  by  pack  trains 
and  narrow-tired,  two-wheeled  springless  carts.  Travel  is  far 
from  comfortable  as  little  or  no  effort  has  been  made  to  improve 
or  even  keep  the  roads  in  repair,  and  the  carts  are  not  built  so 
that  they  ease  any  of  the  bumps.  The  saying  is  that  the  Chinese 
could  not  make  a  good  road  so  they  made  an  indestructible  cart. 
Throughout  South  China,  particularly  in  the  districts  where 
water  transportation  is  available,  the  roads  are  little  more  than 
footpaths  winding  in  and  out  among  the  rice  fields;  carts  and 
wheeled  vehicles  are  not  used  for  transportation,  and  everything 
is  carried  by  water  or  on  the  shoulders  of  men.  Consequently, 
the  narrow  roads,  many  of  them  stone  paved,  are  able  to  care  for 
all  the  traffic,  yet  take  practically  none  of  the  land  of  the  rice 
fields. 

As  modern  railroad  communication  has  developed,  Peking 
has  maintained  her  place  as  the  center  of  transportation.  Most 
of  China's  6,000  miles  of  railroad  are  connected  with  the  capital, 
either  directly  or  by  river  ferry.  Peking  is  the  terminus  of  the 
Peking-Mukden  Railroad,  606  miles  in  length,  the  Peking- 
Suiyuan  Railroad  of  289  miles  and  the  Peking-Hankow  Line  of 
817  miles.  The  Tientsin-Pukow  Railroad,  289  miles  in  length, 
runs  its  trains  into  Peking  over  the  84  miles  of  the  Peking- 
Mukden  line  between  Tientsin  and  Peking,  and  so  gives  direct 
express  service  between  Shanghai  and  Peking,  except  for  the 
break  at  the  Yangtze  River. 

When  the  railroads  were  first  built,  it  was  impossible,  because 
of  the  superstitions  of  the  people  and  the  feelings  of  the  Manchu 
Court,  to  bring  the  railroads  into  Peking,  and  the  terminus  was 
first  established  four  miles  outside  of  the  city.  However,  there 
has  been  such  a  big  change  in  recent  years  that  now  two  of  the 
lines  have  their  terminal  stations  inside  of  the  walls  of  the  South 
City,  and  just  outside  the  Ch'ien  Men  (Main  Gate)  of  the  North 
City,  while  the  third,  the  terminus  of  the  Peking-Suiyuan  Line, 
is  just  outside  Hsi  Chih  Men,  the  Northwest  Gate  of  the  North 
City.  The  three  stations  are  connected  by  means  of  a  track 
that  runs  around  the  wall  of  the  North  City.  These  railroads, 


GEOGRAPHY  55 

with  their  express  trains  carrying  dining  cars,  first  and  second 
class  sleepers,  as  well  as  the  regular  first,  second  and  third  class 
coaches,  make  travel  throughout  the  country  easy,  comfortable 
and  comparatively  cheap,  bring  Peking  into  close  touch  with 
other  parts  of  the  country,  and  also  bring  a  large  amount  of 
business  to  a  city  that  is  otherwise  almost  entirely  non-productive 
and  official. 

Telegraph  and  telephone  lines  put  Peking  in  still  closer  con- 
nection with  the  country.  Telegraph  lines  reach  out  to  all  of 
the  provincial  capitals,  and  long-distance  telephone  lines  are 
gradually  being  installed.  At  present,  Peking  to  Tientsin  is  about 
the  limit  for  long-distance  conversation.  Chinese  messages  are 
sent  over  the  telegraph  wires  as  a  series  of  numbers.  So  many 
of  the  characters  have  the  same  sound  and  tone  that  it  has  been 
impossible  to  develop  a  phonetic  alphabet  that  will  give  the  accu- 
rate meaning  of  the  words  transmitted.  Consequently,  the  vari- 
ous Chinese  characters  have  been  given  numbers,  written  mes- 
sages are  translated  from  characters  to  numbers,  the  numbers 
are  sent  over  the  wire  and  then  the  message  is  re-translated 
from  numbers  to  characters  by  the  receiving  office.  Messages 
in  English  can  be  sent  to  any  of  the  telegraph  stations  through- 
out the  country.  For  such  messages,  the  rates  are  9  cents  a 
word  inside  the  province  and  18  cents  a  word  outside  the  province. 
In  Peking,  these  charges  are  payable  in  the  bank  notes  of  the  Bank 
of  China  and  the  Bank  of  Communications,  whose  value  in  silver 
varies  from  50  to  65  cents. 

Peking  was  a  worthy  home  for  the  Emperors  of  the  Ancient 
"Middle  Kingdom,"  for  he  who  planned  the  city  laid  out  one  of 
the  most  imperial  of  all  the  capitals  of  the  world.  In  the  very 
center  of  the  city,  facing  due  south,  the  cardinal  point  of  the 
Chinese  compass,  stands  the  T'ai  Ho  Tien  or  throne  room  of  the 
Dragon  Emperor.  With  its  high  curving  roof  and  brilliant 
oriental  coloring  of  yellow  tile,  red  walls  and  columns,  and  blue 
and  green  decorations  in  the  shadow  of  the  eaves,  it  stands  as 
the  heart  and  center  of  old  China. 

Around  this  throne  room  are  the  courts  and  palaces  of  the 
Emperor's  family  and  the  officers  of  the  court,  all  with  the 
imperial  yellow  tiled  roofs,  but  of  a  lesser  glory  than  that  of  the 
throne  room.  Surrounding  these  buildings  are  a  high  wall  and  a 
moat  that  have  isolated  the  Emperor  from  the  life  of  the  eity. 
This  part  of  Peking  is  known  to  the  foreigners  as  the  Forbidden 
City,  as  for  many  years  no  foreigners  were  allowed  to  enter  its 
gates,  and  only  the  most  specially  privileged  of  the  Chinese. 
It  was  within  the  walls  of  this  city  that  the  official  ceremonies, 
connected  with  the  raising  of  the  siege  of  Peking,  were  held 
in  1900,  and  it  was  there  that  the  official  celebration  of  the  sign- 


56  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

ing  of  the  Armistice  was  held  in  1919.  The  first  was  the  mark 
of  the  passing  of  ancient  China,  the  second  the  rejoicing  of  the 
new  Republican  China  over  the  downfall  of  militarism  and 
absolutism. 

Surrounding  and  protecting  the  home  of  the  Emperor,  is 
another  walled  city.  It  cannot  compare  in  splendor  or  beauty 
with  the  Forbidden  City,  but  it,  too,  has  its  palaces,  pavilions, 
yellow  and  green  tiled  temples,  besides  government  offices  and 
military  supply  buildings.  As  it  was  the  home  of  many  princes 
and  others  of  the  royal  family,  it  is  generally  known  as  the 
Imperial  City. 

Outside  of  these  two  cities,  some  distance  from  them  and 
entirely  inclosing  them,  is  a  third  wall  much  larger  and  stronger 
than  those  of  the  Forbidden  and  Imperial  Cities.  It  is  designed 
to  give  the  entire  city  protection  against  any  invading  forces. 
The  land  inclosed  by  this  wall,  outside  of  the  Imperial  City, 
was  set  aside  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  Manchu  Bannermen 
when  the  invading  Manchu  tribes  captured  Peking  in  1644  and 
put  their  Emperor  on  the  throne  as  the  founder  of  the  Ch'ing 
Dynasty.  The  conquered  Chinese  were  all  required  to  move  out- 
side of  the  wall.  This  exclusion  of  the  Chinese  was  not  long 
continued,  but,  even  so,  this  part  of  Peking  is  now  known  by 
many  as  the  Tartar  City. 

When  the  Chinese  were  forced  to  leave  the  Tartar  City, 
they  went  to  still  another  walled  district  just  south  of  the  other 
three  cities.  The  northern  wall  of  this  district  is  the  southern 
wall  of  the  Tartar  City.  Here,  in  this  South  City,  the 
Chinese  established  their  business  and  made  their  living  by  trade. 
The  Manchus  of  the  Tartar  or  North  City,  being  soldiers  and 
retainers  of  the  Emperor,  lived  on  the  bounty  of  the  Government 
and  were  forbidden  to  engage  in  business.  Even  now,  most  of 
the  business  of  Peking  is  concentrated  in  the  South  City.  As  it 
was  for  a  time  the  exclusive  home  of  the  Chinese,  this  part  of 
Peking  is  sometimes  also  known  as  the  Chinese  City.  The 
Chinese  know  the  Tartar  City  as  Nei  Ch'eng  or  the  District 
Within  the  Walls,  while  the  Chinese  City  is  called  by  them 
Wai  Ch'eng  or  the  District  Outside  the  Walls,  a  reminder  of  the 
days  before  the  South  City  was  surrounded  by  a  wall. 

The  Inner  or  Forbidden  City  occupies  an  area  of  5  square  li 1 
or  .64  square  miles.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  crenolated  wall  2^/4 
miles  in  length,  22  feet  high  and  30  feet  thick.  The  faces  of  this 
wall  are  covered  with  a  plaster  in  which  a  violet  colored  mortar 
is  used.  This  color  gives  this  city  its  Chinese  name,  Tzu  Chin 
Ch'eng  or  Purple  Forbidden  City.  The  moat  surrounding  this 
city  is  200  feet  wide. 

1  One    square   11  =  3,556,966    square   feet,    0.1276    square   miles. 


GEOGRAPHY 


57 


R  ,^r-~~  —  —*a«.  •    C    H    I    N    fc 

Outsid 


PEKING  CITIES  AND  POLICE  DISTRICTS 
Figure  3 

The  Imperial  City,  built  by  the  Ming  Emperors  in  1406  to 
1437,  occupies  an  area  of  15.1  square  li  (1.93  square  miles). 
The  wall  surrounding  it  is  18  li1  (6.44  miles)  in  length,  is  6^ 
feet  through  at  the  base,  5  feet  across  at  the  top  and  18  feet  high. 
This  was  originally  pierced  by  only  four  gates,  but  lately  addi- 
tional gates  have  been  opened  so  that  traffic  can  move  with 
greater  ease  and  long  detours  can  be  avoided.  The  faces  of  the 
wall  are  covered  with  a  red  plaster.  The  Chinese  name  of  this 
city  is  Huang  Ch'eng. 

The  Tartar,  or  the  outermost  of  the  three  cities,  has  an  area 

1  One  li  =  1886  feet,  0.357  miles. 


58  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

of  91.6  square  li  (n.68  square  miles).  Its  wall,  specially 
designed  for  protection,  is  62  feet  thick  at  the  base,  50  feet  wide 
at  the  top,  41  feet  high  and  41.26  li  (14.73  miles)  in  length. 
Buttresses  65  feet  wide  and  650  feet  apart  have  been  built  on  the 
outside  of  the  wall,  as  additional  protection.  The  wall  is  pierced 
by  nine  gates,  two  on  the  north,  two  on  the  east,  two  on  the  west 
and  three  on  the  south.  These  last  lead  into  the  South  or 
Chinese  City.  Each  one  of  the  gates  was  formerly  protected  by 
a  semi-circular  encient  or  curtain  wall  pierced  by  an  outer 
gate,  but  modern  progress  and  the  railroad  around  the  city  have 
made  it  necessary  to  cut  through  some  of  these  curtain  walls. 
Over  the  main  gates  and  the  outer  gates  and  at  the  corners  of 
the  city,  large  four  story  gate-houses  have  been  built.  They  were 
formerly  used  as  quarters  for  troops,  for  the  storage  of  grain 
and  as  points  of  vantage  for  those  firing  at  attacking  forces,  but 
now  are  unused  and  are  falling  to  pieces.  Several  of  them  still 
show  the  effects  of  the  guns  used  in  the  attack  of  1900.  These 
houses  are  all  49  feet  high.  The  combined  height  of  the  wall 
and  gate-house  never  reaches  100  feet,  for  the  Chinese  believe 
that  the  Good  Spirits  fly  at  an  elevation  of  100  feet  and  must 
not  be  disturbed  by  any  buildings  of  that  height. 

The  South  City  was  first  built  in  the  23rd  year  of  the  Ming 
Emperor,  Ch'ia  Ch'ing  (1545).  It  was  started  as  a  suburb 
outside  the  walls  of  the  North  City,  but  grew  so  rapidly  that 
walls  were  built  around  it  in  1564.  These  are  20  feet  thick  at  the 
base,  14  feet  across  at  the  top,  25  feet  high  and  14.02  miles  long, 
including  4.15  miles  of  the  south  wall  of  the  North  City.  They 
are  pierced  by  ten  gates,  three  on  the  south,  one  on  the  east, 
one  on  the  west  and  five  on  the  north.  Three  of  these  five  are 
the  gates  in  the  south  wall  of  the  North  City.  The  other  two 
open  to  the  north  just  east  and  west  of  the  outer  walls  of  the 
North  City.  The  area  inclosed  is  82.3  square  li  or  10.5  square 
miles. 

Peking  has  never  been  made  a  treaty  port  and  no  countries 
have  been  given  concessions  there,  but  by  the  Peking  Convention 
of  1860  the  foreign  nations  were  given  the  right  to  send  their 
official  representatives  to  Peking  and  a  special  district  known  by 
the  Chinese  as  Tung  Chiao  Min  Hsiang,  was  set  aside  for  the 
residence  of  these  ministers  and  diplomats.  This  Legation 
Quarter  is  just  north  of  the  south  wall  of  the  Tartar  City  and 
extends  from  the  Ch'ien  Men  or  Center  Gate  of  that  wall  east 
almost  to  the  Hatamen  (East  Gate),  a  distance  of  about  a  mile. 
From  north  to  south,  the  Quarter  is  approximately  half  a  mile 
wide,  its  total  area  being  0.41  square  miles. 

Within  this  Legation  Quarter,  eleven  of  the  foreign  coun- 
tries represented  in  Peking  have  built  residences  and  offices  for 


GEOGRAPHY  59 

their  ministers  and  barracks  for  their  legation  guards.  These 
nations  are: 

Austria  Great  Britain  Russia 

Belgium  Italy  Spain 

France  Japan  The  United  States 

Germany  The  Netherlands  of  America 

Other  foreign  nations  are  represented  in  Peking,  but  they  either 
maintain  a  rented  legation,  some  of  which  are  outside  the  Lega- 
tion Quarter,  or  their  representatives  have  their  headquarters  in 
one  of  the  hotels  of  the  city.  Within  the  Legation  Quarter 
are  also  found  the  foreign  banks  and  many  of  the  foreign  busi- 
ness houses. 

It  was  in  the  Legation  Quarter  that  most  of  the  foreigners 
and  many  of  the  Chinese  Christians  sought  refuge  during  the 
Boxer  uprising  of  1900.  There  they  were  besieged  from  June 
2oth  to  August  I4th,  when  they  were  relieved  by  the  foreign 
expeditionary  force  that  had  fought  its  way  up  from  Tientsin. 

In  order  that  a  place  of  refuge  may  be  available  for  the  for- 
eigners, in  case  of  any  future  disturbance  in  Peking,  the  Legation 
Quarter  has  been  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  a  strong  loop- 
holed  wall,  the  fourth  side  being  protected  by  the  high  south 
wall  of  the  Tartar  City.  Where  roadways  go  through  the  walls, 
steel  gates  have  been  built  so  that  all  entrances  may  be  closed 
in  time  of  trouble.  Just  outside  the  loop-holed  wall  is  a  dry 
moat,  and  beyond  that  a  wide  open  space  or  glacis  is  main- 
tained as  additional  protection.  In  order  that  the  Legation 
Quarter  might  not  be  fired  on  again  from  the  50- foot  wall  of 
the  North  City,  as  it  was  during  the  siege  of  1900,  the  foreign 
nations  have  demanded  and  been  given  control  of  the  wall  where 
it  adjoins  the  Legation  Quarter.  Men  from  the  Legation  Guards 
are  now  constantly  on  watch  on  top  of  the  wall. 

The  administration  of  the  Legation  Quarter  is  entirely  in 
the  hands  o>f  the  diplomatic  corps,  who  pass  their  own  regulations 
and  maintain  their  own  force  of  Chinese  police. 

For  the  purpose  of  police  administration,  Peking  has  been 
divided  into  20  districts.  The  Central  districts  are  in  the  Imperial 
City,  but  do  not  include  the  Forbidden  City,  which  is  special 
government  property,  not  open  to  the  general  public  and  not 
part  of  the  area  under  the  direct  supervision  of  the  police.  The 
Inside  districts  are  in  the  North  City  and  the  Outside  dis- 
tricts in  the  South  City.  The  Left  districts  are  on  the  east 
and  the  Right  districts  on  the  west  side  of  the  city.  South  is 
the  cardinal  point  of  the  Chinese  compass,  so  right  and  left  hand 
directions  are  given  with  reference  to  a  person  facing  in  that 
direction  rather  than  north,  as  is  customary  in  western  countries. 


60 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

POLICE  DISTRICTS 


NAME 

Central 

Sq.  Li* 
l            11.4 

2                  37 

AREA 

Sq.  Miles 
1.46 
i&i             47          L93 

Inside     Left 

«                    tc 
it                   (t 
t(                   (t 

Inside  Right 

I                14.8 

2             9-5 
3           10.  i 
4           12.7 
i             8.9 

2                12.6 

3            10.3 
4           12.7 

1.89 

I.2I 

1.29 

1.62 

143 

1.61 
1.31 
91.6          1.62         u.68 

Outside  Left 
Outside  Right 

H                          <« 

i             3-5 
2            3.6 
3            5-1 
4           154 
5            3-9 
i            3-8 

2                 4.2 

3             7-9 
4           15-5 
5           194 

1 

1.97 

5 

•53 

1.00 

82.3          2.48         10.50 

Forbidden   City 

Sq.  Li 

Sq.  Miles 
6d 

Central  Districts 

(Imperial  City) 

j-  j 

Inside   Districts 

(Tartar   City) 

01  6 

ii  68 

Total  North  Cit 

y   

.  .111.7 

14  25 

Outside  Districts 

(South  City) 

.   82.3 

TO  «\O 

Peking   . 

.  .  IQ4.0 

24.75 

•One  square  11  =  3,556,996  square  feet,  0.1276  square  miles. 


The  entire  area  of  the  North  City  is  111.7  square  li  (14.25 
square  miles),  that  of  the  South  City  82.3  square  li  (10.5  square 
miles),  so  that  the  total  area  inside  the  walls  of  Peking  is  194 
square  li  or  24.75  square  miles. 

Around  the  four  walls  of  the  North  City  and  outside  the 
walls  of  the  South  City,  flows  a  moat  some  75  fe/et  wide,  filled 
with  water  brought  from  the  Jade  Fountain,  a  spring  six  miles 
northwest  of  Peking.  In  former  days  it  was  the  first  line  of 
defense  for  the  capital,  and  in  case  of  siege  insured  a  supply  of 
water  for  those  living  inside  the  walls.  Now  it  serves  as  part 
of  the  drainage  system  of  the  city  and  also  supplies  the  canal  that 
gives  Peking  water  connection  with  T'ung  Hsien  and  other  parts 
of  China. 

As  Peking  is  located  on  the  coastal  plain,  there  is  but  little 
difference  in  elevation  between  the  various  parts  of  the  city. 


GEOGRAPHY  61 

What  slope  there  is,  runs  from  northwest  to  southeast,  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  North  City  being  45  feet  higher  than  the  land 
inside  the  southeast  corner  of  the  South  City. 

There  is  but  one  outstanding  hill  inside  the  walls  and  it  is 
artificial.  It  lies  just  north  of  the  back  wall  of  the  Forbidden 
City  and  is  known  by  the  Chinese  as  Ching  Shan  (Prospect  Hill) 
or  Mei  Shan  (Coal  Hill).  One  tradition  has  it  that  this  hill 
was  built  by  the  Mongol  emperors  when  they  were  storing  a  large 
supply  of  coal  for  use  in  case  of  siege,  while  another  says  that 
the  hill  was  built  entirely  with  the  silt  dug  from  the  beds  of  the 
artificial  lakes  that  are  inside  the  city  walls.  This  hill  is  one  of 
the  beauty  spots  of  the  city  as  it  has  long  been  part  of  the 
Imperial  Garden.  It  is  150  feet  high  and  gives  a  commanding 
view  of  the  entire  city,  particularly  of  the  yellow-roofed  palaces 
of  the  Forbidden  City  lying  just  to  the  south.  There  can  now 
be  seen  the  palace  occupied  by  the  deposed  Manchu  Emperor 
Hsuan  T'ung  and  his  mother,  the  Dowager  Empress.  For  this 
reason,  but  few  people  are  allowed  to  visit  the  hill  and  the  park 
surrounding  it.  Coal  Hill  was  particularly  connected  with  the 
history  of  the  Ming  Dynasty,  as  it  was  there  that  the  last  of  the 
Ming  emperors  committed  suicide  when  the  gates  of  the  city 
were  treacherously  opened  to  the  invading  rebels. 

Running  water  has  had  to  be  brought  to  Peking  by  artificial 
means,  as  the  city  is  not  located  on  any  natural  stream.  The 
waters  of  the  Ch'ing  Ming  Yuan  or  Jade  Fountain,  6  miles 
northwest,  first  flow  through  the  lake  of  the  Emperor's  Summer 
Palace  and  then  are  brought  by  canal  to  the  city.  There  they 
fill  the  moat  outside  the  walls,  and  coming  under  the  walls 
through  watergates  supply  a  series  of  artificial  lakes,  the  moat 
around  the  Forbidden  City,  a  canal  in  the  West  City,  one  inside 
the  wall  of  the  Imperial  City  and  the  moat  outside  the  south 
wall  of  the  North  City. 

The  seven  artificial  lakes  are  a  striking  part  of  the  Peking 
landscape,  lying  as  they  do  in  a  chain,  from  the  north  wall  of  the 
Tartar  City  to  the  south  wall  of  the  Imperial  City.  The  southern 
three,  extending  from  the  north  to  the  south  wall  of  the  Imperial 
City,  are  called  the  San  Hai  or  Three  Seas,  by  the  Chinese, 
and  are  individually  known  as  Pei  Hai  (North  Sea),  Chung  Hai 
(Middle  Sea),  and  Nan  Hai  (South  Sea).  Around  these  three 
lakes  have  been  built  imperial  palaces,  gardens  and  temples, 
known  by  some  as  the  Winter  Palace,  or  more  correctly  as  the 
Sea  Palace.  The  buildings  around  the  South  and  Central  Sea  are 
now  occupied  by  the  President  of  China  and  his  suite,  while  the 
North  Sea  and  surrounding  grounds  are  kept  as  a  park  open 
to  the  Chinese  only  on  special  occasions  and  to  foreigners  only 
after  they  have  secured  a  pass  from  their  legation. 


62  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

As  Peking  was  the  home  of  the  Emperor,  the  main  thorough- 
fares of  the  city  were  laid  out  so  that  they  would  be  suitable  for 
an  imperial  progress.  These  roadways  are  all  100  feet  wide, 
and  are  in  reality  three  roads  side  by  side.  The  road  in  the 
center  is  reserved  for  special  traffic,  while  the  heavy  carts  moving 
the  business  of  the  city  are  required  to  go  on  the  side  roads.  In 
the  olden  days  nothing  was  done  to  pave  any  of  the  roads,  and 
the  center  one  was  in  better  condition  simply  because  it  had  less 
use.  Even  the  roads  used  by  the  Emperor  were  full  of  ruts, 
bumps  and  dust.  Some  travelers  tell  of  roads  in  Peking  that 
used  to  have  from  18  to  36  inches  of  dust  on  them  in  winter 
and  that,  in  summer,  during  the  rainy  season,  were  impassable 
lakes  in  which  horses  and  mules  were  sometimes  drowned. 
Nothing  was  done  to  change  this  condition  until  after  the  Boxer 
uprising  in  1900.  Since  that  time,  the  center  roads  of  all  the 
main  thoroughfares  have  been  surfaced  with  a  good  heavy 
macadam  pavement,  but  nothing  has  been  done  toward  paving 
the  side  roads,  even  though  some  of  the  less  frequented  streets 
of  the  city  are  being  graded  and  paved.  All  cart  traffic  is 
required  to  keep  to  the  side  roads,  and  as  the  Peking  carts  all 
have  narrow  tired  wheels  it  is  practically  impossible  to  put  in  any 
paving  that  they  would  not  quickly  cut  to  pieces.  It  is  also 
impossible  to  require  the  carts  to  use  broad  tired  wheels,  as  then 
they  would  be  useless  on  the  unpaved  roads  outside  of  the  city, 
especially  in  the  rainy  season.  The  narrow  tired  wheels  cut 
through  the  mud  and  do  not  become  clogged  with  it  as  do  the 
wheels  with  broad  tires.  So  even  now  in  Peking  the  carts  wallow 
through  the  mud  during  the  rainy  season  and  raise  a  cloud  of 
dust  when  the  roads  are  dry. 

As  the  North  City  was  the  home  of  the  Emperor  and  the 
court,  a  great  majority  of  the  loo-foot  roads  have  been  built  in 
that  part  of  Peking.  All  nine  of  the  gates  of  the  North  City  have 
these  wide  highways  running  to  them  and  there  are  four  roads 
running  across  the  city  from  north  to  south  and  four  from  east 
to  west.  In  the  South  City  there  are  only  two  main  highways. 
One  connects  the  center  gates  in  the  north  and  south  walls,  while 
the  other  joins  the  center  gates  in  the  east  and  west  walls.  The 
North  City  has  a  total  of  29  miles  of  the  loo-foot  roads,  while 
the  South  City  has  but  8.25  miles. 

In  the  olden  days  the  opportunity  for  trade  with  those  that 
traveled  along  the  highways  was  so  great  that  many  shopkeepers 
used  to  encroach  upon  the  roads  and  establish  small  temporary 
shops  on  the  line  dividing  the  central  road  from  the  two  side 
roads.  This  was  overlooked  by  the  officials,  for  a  consideration, 
the  understanding  being  that  any  time  the  Emperor  went  out  all 
the  shops  had  to  be  removed.  Consequently,  word  was  sent  out 


MULE   LITTER. 

For   Country   Transportation. 


ONE  OF  PEKING'S  4,198  INDESTRUCTIBLE  CARTS 

The    bulk    of    Peking's    passenger    traffic    is    carried    by    17,000    rickshas. 
city  also   boasts  nearly   700  automobiles. 


The 


CAMEL  TRANSPORTATION. 

Camel  trains  go  North  and  West  from  Peking.  In  bringing  coal  from  the 
wStern  HUls  railroads  find  it  hard  to  compete  with  camels.  Thirteen  high- 
ways four  railroads  and  a  branch  of  the  Grand  Canal  connect  Peking  with 
the  rest  of  China. 


GEOGRAPHY  63 

before  the  Emperor  did  any  traveling  in  the  city,  the  merchants 
removed  their  shops  and  their  goods,  and  the  Emperor  never  knew 
but  what  the  roads  were  always  unobstructed.  Now,  a  well-built 
gutter,  which  drains  the  high  crowned  macadam  pavement, 
divides  the  center  from  the  side  roads,  and  the  police  allow  no 
one  to  encroach  upon  the  public  highway. 

These  highways  and  the  smaller  roads  or  Hut'ungs  are 
used  by  a  tremendous  stream  of  traffic.  The  police  report  that 
in  March,  1919,  there  were  519  automobiles,  2,222  carriages, 
4,198  carts  and  17,815  rickshas  in  the  city.  By  December,  1919, 
the  number  of  automobiles  had  risen  to  645,  even  though  gaso- 
line was  80  cents  a  gallon.  Mule  litters  or  palanquins  are  seen 
on  the  streets  only  occasionally  as  they  are  used  almost  exclu- 
sively for  country  travel,  and  come  into  the  city  but  seldom. 
Chairs  are  seen  only  in  wedding  or  funeral  processions.  Electric 
cars  are  running  in  Peking  according  to  several  of  the  books  on 
China,  but  as  yet  none  can  be  found  in  the  city.  The  concession 
to  build  the  electric  lines  has  been  given  to  the  French,  but  the 
war  has  prevented  them  from  carrying  out  their  plans.  Not  only 
are  the  roads  crowded  with  vehicles,  but  traffic  is  further  con- 
gested by  the  pedestrians  all  walking  in  the  streets.  There  are 
no  side-walks.  In  spite  of  the  crowd,  the  traffic  is  well  handled 
by  a  large  and  efficient  force  of  traffic  police,  who  see  that  every- 
body " Keeps  to  the  Left"  and  gives  the  automobile  the  right  of 
way. 

It  is  the  rickshas  that  carry  most  of  the  passenger  traffic. 
They  can  be  found  almost  anywhere  in  the  city,  day  or  night, 
except  in  the  worst  weather,  can  be  engaged  for  a  short  or  long 
run  and  are  comparatively  cheap  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  one 
runner  seldom  pulls  more  than  one  passenger.  For  the  foreigner, 
the  charge  is  ordinarily  about  16  cents  an  hour,  but  for  the 
Chinese  it  is  considerably  less.  One  fixes  the  price  by  bargaining 
with  the  ricksha  coolie,  and  the  price  depends  upon  the  length 
of  the  run,  the  time  of  day,  the  weather,  the  number  of  rickshas 
around,  and  how  far  from  his  regular  stand  the  coolie  is  to  be 
dismissed.  Prices  advance  rapidly  in  bad  weather  as  the  coolies 
fear  the  wet  much  more  than  they  do  the  cold.  The  mud  of 
the  unpayed  streets  makes  heavy  pulling,  and  water  quickly 
ruins  their  cloth  shoes.  The  straw  sandal  of  Central  China  is 
unknown  in  Peking;  the  men  seldom  run  barefooted  and  many 
times  the  shoes  they  spoil  are  worth  more  than  the  fare  they 
receive. 

Modern  Peking  is  greatly  in  need  of  more  gates  in  its  walls. 
The  present  number  confines  the  traffic  to  a  few  highways,  and 
not  only  makes  detours  necessary  but  also  produces  great  con- 
gestion. To  go  from  a  point  just  inside  the  wall  to  one  just  out- 


64  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

side  the  wall,  an  actual  distance  of  perhaps  100  yards,  may  mean 
a  trip  of  2*/2  miles.  Going  from  the  North  to  the  South  City  often 
involves  a  wait  at  the  gate  because  of  the  congestion  of  traffic. 

It  will  be  a  long  time  before  it  will  be  at  all  necessary  to 
take  down  the  walls  of  Peking.  Much  of  the  land  inside  of 
the  walls  is  still  unoccupied,  and  the  city  can  grow  for  many 
years  before  it  will  have  to  spread  outside  of  its  present  bounda- 
ries. Something,  however,  will  have  to  be  done  to  relieve  the 
congestion  at  the  gates  between  the  North  and  South  City.  The 
North  City  is  primarily  a  residence  district,  the  business  and 
recreational  life  is  centered  in  the  South  City,  and  the  traffic 
between  the  two  is  constantly  growing.  The  opening  of  new 
gates  and  the  enlargement  of  the  present  ones  will  do  much  to 
relieve  the  present  congestion. 

The  problem  of  the  traffic  in  the  South  City  is  even  more 
serious.  There,  Peking  has  grown  up  much  like  the  other  cities 
of  China,  with  narrow,  twisting  streets  and  closely  packed  build- 
ings. What  loo-foot  highways  there  are  run  around  the  outside 
of  the  congested  districts,  and  are  consequently  not  a  great  relief 
to  the  traffic.  What  with  rickshas,  carriages  and  automobiles 
all  traveling  on  roads  that  are  barely  wide  enough  for  two 
streams  of  traffic,  jams  are  frequent,  and  if  it  were  not  for  the 
fact  that  the  rickshas  are  slow  moving,  many  accidents  would 
be  inevitable.  Some  of  the  streets  will  undoubtedly  have  to  be 
widened,  in  spite  of  the  large  cost  of  such  an  improvement, 
others  will  have  to  be  made  "one  way"  streets,  and  automobiles 
and  carriages  will  have  to  be  restricted  to  certain  streets.  It 
seems  as  though  the  limit  of  traffic  had  been  reached  on  many  of 
the  streets  and  that  even  the  merchants  would  be  glad  to  see 
some  change  made. 


CHAPTER  IV 
GOVERNMENT 

Peking's  greatness  and  glory  are  the  result  of  its  connection 
with  the  Government  of  China.  Except  for  the  fact  that  it  has 
been  the  capital  of  the  country  for  almost  1,000  years,  there  is 
little  reason  why  it  should  be  a  great  city.  It  is  not  surrounded 
by  any  special  natural  resources,  it  has  never  been  an  industrial 
city,  road  communication  has  been  notoriously  bad,  and  before 
the  coming  of  the  railroads  the  Grand  Canal  was  the  principal 
connection  with  the  rest  of  the  country.  It  is  one  of  the  great 
cities  of  the  world  because  it  has  been  the  capital.  Under  the 
Empire,  it  was  the  source  of  all  power  for  the  entire  country. 
The  Emperor  was  the  Son  of  Heaven  and  responsible  for  the 
welfare  of  his  people.  He  delegated  to  the  officials  whatever 
power  they  might  have.  Peking  was  his  home.  From  it  came 
the  decrees  that  affected  the  life  of  all  the  people.  To  it 
turned  those  seeking  political  preferment,  as  there  they  might 
reach  those  who  had  the  appointive  power.  The  city  has  not  only 
been  the  home  of  the  Emperor,  his  court  and  officials,  but  of 
thousands  and  even  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  who  have 
come  from  even  the  most  distant  provinces  hoping  that  they 
might  secure  some  political  office. 

That  Peking  has  been  the  educational  as  well  as  the  political 
center  of  the  country  has  also  added  to  its  growth  and  glory. 
Under  the  old  system  of  education,  the  examinations  for  the 
highest  literary  degrees  were  held  in  the  capital,  and  thousands 
of  men  came  to  the  city  for  such  examinations.  But  these  men 
were  seeking  political  preferment  as  well,  for  high  literary  attain- 
ment nearly  always  meant  official  position. 

The  government  of  Peking  is  literally  a  Chinese  puzzle.  As 
one  official  expressed  it,  "The  government  of  the  city  is  not  based 
on  law,  but  entirely  on  custom  and  precedent."  Through  the 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  the  Manchu  reign,  it  was  possible 
to  work  out  the  relationship  of  the  various  boards  and  depart- 
ments, but  since  the  establishment  of  the  Republic  many  of  the 
old  governmental  organizations  have  disappeared  and  new  ones 
have  been  created,  and  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  they  all  know 
just  what  they  are  supposed  to  do  in  a  case  of  emergency.  The 
head  of  one  of  the  boards  that  had  not  been  reorganized  said, 

65 


66  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

"When  anything  happens,  each  one  of  us  knows  just  exactly 
how  far  his  power  extends  and  what  he  can  do  in  any  situation." 
With  all  the  changes  that  have  come  in  recent  years,  it  hardly 
seems  that  it  could  be  as  simple  as  that,  for  the  National  Govern- 
ment, the  Provincial  Government,  the  Military  Guard,  the 
Municipal  Council  and  the  Police  Board  are  all  exercising  various 
governmental  functions  in  the  city. 

NATIONAL   GOVERNMENT 

The  National  Government  consists  of  the  National  Assembly 
with  two  houses — Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  Presi- 
dent, Cabinet  and  numerous  official  boards.  The  members  of  the 
Senate  are  elected  by  the  Provincial  Assemblies,  those  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  by  the  qualified  voters  who  must  have 
an  education  equivalent  to  that  given  in  the  Higher  Primary 
School  and  who  must  pay  $2  a  year  in  taxes  or  have  $500 
of  immovable  property.  The  Senators  are  elected  for  a  six-year 
term,  one-third  retiring  every  two  years.  The  Representatives 
are  elected  for  a  three-year  term.  The  President  is  elected  for 
a  five-year  term  by  a  joint  meeting  of  the  houses  of  the 
National  Assembly.  The  Cabinet,  consisting  of  the  Min- 
isters at  the  head  of  the  nine  boards  of  Foreign  Affairs,  Interior, 
Finance,  War,  Navy,  Justice,  Education,  Agriculture  and  Com- 
merce, Communications,  is  appointed  by  the  President  with  the 
consent  of  the  Assembly,  and  can  be  removed  by  him.  One  of  the 
Cabinet  Ministers  also  holds  the  office  of  Premier. 

The  consent  of  the  Assembly  is  required  for  certain  of  the 
actions  of  the  Cabinet,  and  the  Ministers  are  supposedly  respon- 
sible to  the  Assembly  but  their  responsibility  cannot  be  definitely 
determined  as  the  permanent  Constitution  has  not  been  adopted. 
The  powers  of  the  Government  are  supposedly  based  on  the  pro- 
visional Constitution  promulgated  in  1912,  but  in  reality  much  of 
the  government  is  carried  on  by  agreement,  the  officials  con- 
cerned settling  the  matter,  sometimes  with  but  little  regard  for  the 
wishes  of  the  people  who  are  supposed  to  be  the  final  source  of  all 
power  in  the  country.  Practically,  the  government  is  in  the 
hands  of  the  President,  the  Cabinet  and  the  Military  Governors 
of  the  provinces,  for  although  the  National  Assembly  must 
give  its  consent  to  certain  actions  of  the  Cabinet,  declaration  of 
war,  etc.,  it  is  not  always  consulted  before  the  decision  is  put 
into  effect.  The  declaration  of  war  with  Germany  was  approved 
by  the  National  Assembly  only  three  days  before  the  signing  of 
the  Armistice. 

All  but  one  of  the  Cabinet  ministries  have  established  schools 
in  Peking.  The  Board  of  War  controls  the  Military  Guard,  the 


GOVERNMENT 


67 


FB 


City  Government  -  34 
Detectives  -6 


Fire  Watch-Towers  -5 
National  Government  -  59 


PEKING    GOVERNMENT    OFFICES 

H  -  Hsien  Yamens  -2  P  -  Police  District  Headquarters  -  21 

K  -  Cavalry  - 1 
t  -  Telephone  Offices  -  5 
-  Military  Guard 


o  -  Post  Offices  -  20 
Figure  4 


R  -  Railroads  -  6 

T  -  Telegraph  Offices  -  5 

w  -  Special  Police  -  6 

Y  -  Ching  Chao  Ying  •  I 


Ministry  of  Finance  is  called  upon  to  furnish  a  large  part  of 
the  money  needed  to  carry  on  the  city  government,  the  Local 
Board  of  Education  is  responsible  to  the  National  Board,  while 
the  heads  of  the  Municipal  Council  and  of  the  Police  Board — 
the  two  agencies  that  are  carrying  on  most  of  the  governmental 
work  in  the  city — are  responsible  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior, 


68  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

although  they  are  appointed  by  the  President  upon  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  Minister. 

CHING  CHAO  (METROPOLITAN  DISTRICT) 

Some  three  hundred  years  ago,  the  Emperor  of  China  felt 
that  the  district  around  his  capital  should  be  specially  organized 
so  that  he  might  be  properly  protected  and  immediately  advised 
of  any  unusual  occurrence.  Instead  of  making  it  one  of  the 
regular  "Fu"  Districts  (one  of  the  large  political  sub-divisions) 
of  Chihli  Province,  he  made  it  a  special  district,  and  instead  of 
having  the  official  in  charge  appointed  by  the  Provincial  Governor 
and  required  to  send  all  reports  and  recommendations  through 
the  Governor's  hands,  the  Emperor  appointed  him  himself  and 
gave  him  rank  equal  to  that  of  a  Provincial  Governor  and  the 
right  to  approach  the  throne  at  any  time.  This  special  district 
organization  was  continued  by  the  Manchus  and  by  the  Republic. 
The  Governor  of  the  district  is  now  appointed  by  the  President 
and  can  report  to  him  at  any  time. 

The  Jgsun  T'ien  Fu  (Obedient  to  Heaven  District),  as  it  was 
called  by  the  Manchus,  or  Ching  Chao  (Metropolitan  District), 
as  it  has  been  known  since  1914,  includes  the  territory  that  is 
within  seventy-five  miles  of  Peking.  It  takes  in  Tientsin  to 
the  southeast,  the  Eastern  Tombs  of  the  Manchu  Emperors  on 
the  northeast  and  goes  about  half  way  from  Peking  to  Pao  Ting 
Fu.  For  governmental  purposes  it  is  divided  into  twenty  hsien 
(county)  districts,  the  officials  of  which  are  appointed  by,  and 
responsible  to,  the  Governor.  The  Yamens  (official  headquar- 
ters) of  the  Governor  and  two  of  the  hsien  magistrates  are  in 
Peking. 

As  Peking  is  inside  the  Ching  Chao,  the  Governor  puts  his 
seal  on  all  proclamations  affecting  the  city,  collects,  through  the 
hsien  magistrates,  certain  taxes,  and  is  responsible  for  the 
organization  of  the  voting  districts  for  the  Provincial  Assembly 
and  National  Assembly  elections.  His  officers  have  the  right  to 
pursue  any  criminals  that  may  have  fled  to  the  city.  While  these 
are  his  powers  and  duties  under  ordinary  conditions,  we  could 
not  determine  what  they  would  be  under  extraordinary  condi- 
tions. They  vary  with  the  gravity  of  the  situation  and  the  issues 
involved  and  are  based  entirely  on  custom  rather  than  law. 

In  his  work  outside  of  the  city,  the  Ching  Chao  Governor 
has  shown  that  he  is  anxious  to  improve  the  general  conditions 
of  the  people.  The  pupils  in  his  schools  in  Peking  come  from  the 
different  hsien,  and  the  course  in  the  industrial  school  is  par- 
ticularly planned  to  train  the  boys  so  that  after  they  have  finished 
their  work  they  can  go  back  to  their  districts  to  help  teach  others. 


GOVERNMENT  69 

In  the  school,  they  study  half  a  day  and  work  half  a  day,  being 
taught  carpet  making,  machine  work,  carpentering,  printing  and 
weaving.  Over  200  li  of  roads  in  the  district  have  been  macad- 
amized and  additional  improvement  is  delayed  only  because  of 
the  lack  of  available  funds.  Some  200,000  calendars,  designed 
to  teach  the  people  the  new  phonetic  script  and  the  regular 
Chinese  characters,  were  distributed  in  1919.  These  calendars 
contained  a  page  for  every  day  in  the  year  and  on  each  page 
were  three  new  characters.  The  Governor  also  had  the  char- 
acters displayed  in  the  villages  and  the  people  were  given  free 
instruction  concerning  the  characters  and  the  new  script.  Yearly 
examinations  are  to  be  held  covering  the  characters  on  the 
calendars  and  prizes  are  to  be  given  to  those  who  excel. 

The  attitude  of  the  Governor  toward  the  question  of  democ- 
racy and  the  improvement  of  the  condition  of  the  people  was 
most  interesting.  He  said  he  felt  that  the  people,  because  of 
their  lack  of  education  and  experience,  were  not  able  to  help 
themselves,  and  that  they  had  to  depend  upon  the  officials  to 
initiate  reforms.  The  higher  officials  were  the  ones  to  whom 
the  people  had  to  look  for  help,  as  most  of  the  better  element 
kept  out  of  office  and  the  lower  positions  were  in  the  hands  of 
those  who  were  not  particularly  qualified  to  act  as  leaders. 

In  discussing  the  situation  in  Peking,  the  great  activity  of  the 
officials  and  the  very  small  amount  of  interest  taken  by  the 
citizens,  the  Governor  said  that  in  Peking  the  gentry  took  prac- 
tically no  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  city  and  had  very  little 
power.  What  little  they  had  had  in  the  past,  they  had  been 
willing  to  turn  over  to  the  officials  as  there  was  practically  no 
community  spirit  in  the  city.  Most  of  the  men  of  position  and 
influence  were  retired  officials,  natives  of  other  provinces  who> 
did  not  want  to  be  bothered  with  any  of  the  problems  of  the 
city.  Then,  too,  the  citizens  of  Peking  furnish  such  a  small 
amount  of  the  money  needed  to  run  the  city  that  the  officials 
have  naturally  taken  over  all  the  improvement  work. 

Most  of  the  detailed  work  of  the  Ching  Chao  is  carried  on 
by  the  hsien  magistrates.  Two  of  these  have  their  Yamens  in 
Peking,  as  the  boundary  line  between  Ta  Hsing  Hsien  and 
Wan  P'ing  Hsien  runs  north  and  south  through  the  center  of 
the  city.  As  far  as  Peking  is  concerned,  the  work  of  the  hsien 
magistrates  consists  in  the  preparation  of  the  voting  lists,  the 
establishment  of  the  election  districts  and  the  collection  of  cer- 
tain taxes.  The  Ching  Chao  collects  a  license  tax  from  those 
engaged  in  certain  forms  of  business,  the  selling  of  oil  and  wine, 
etc.,  and  a  tax  on  land  that  is  used  for  agricultural  purposes. 
Land  in  Peking  used  for  residences  pays  no  tax.  The  stores 
pay  taxes  to  the  city  Government,  while  the  taxes  on  lands  grow- 


70  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

ing  crops  are  collected  by  the  hsien  officials.  The  regular  land 
taxes  are  collected  by  the  hsien  only  on  land  that  is  more  than 
one  li  (j/3  mile)  from  the  city  walls. 

The  hsien  magistrates  have  their  prisons  in  Peking  but  they 
are  for  criminals  captured  outside  of  the  city.  These  are  old 
style  Chinese  prisons  and  even  though  they  have  been  so 
improved  that  the  Chinese  call  them  Reformed  Prisons,  they  are 
very  different  from  the  model  prisons.  They  show  that  it  is  still 
possible  for  two  different  government  organizations  to  be  doing 
similar  work  in  the  same  city  in  very  different  ways,  and  that 
certain  ideas  can  influence  one  group  of  officials  and  leave 
another  group  untouched,  for  the  Ching  Chao  prison  is  one  of  the 
Peking  model  prisons. 

MILITARY    GUARD 

A  second  protective  district  for  the  capital  was  created  by 
the  Manchu  emperors,  when  they  put  the  territory  immediately 
around  the  city  under  the  control  of  the  Military  Guard,  a  body 
of  troops  that  is  now  under  the  Board  of  War.  The  boundaries 
of  this  district  are  anywhere  from  4  to  40  li  from  the  city  walls, 
although  the  average  distance  is  about  20  li.  The  district  goes 
half  way  to  T'ung  Hsien  on  the  east,  takes  in  Tsing  Hua  (The 
American  Indemnity  College)  and  the  old  and  new  summer 
palaces  on  the  north,  a  large  section  of  the  western  hills  to 
the  northwest,  while  on  the  southeast  it  goes  almost  to  the  city 
of  Feng  T'ai.  For  administrative  purposes,  the  district  has  been 
sub-divided  into  four  departments,  Central,  North,  Left  and 
Right,  each  of  which  is  again  sub-divided  into  four  or  five  smaller 
districts.  The  Military  Guard  is  entirely  responsible  for  the 
administration  and  policing  of  these  districts,  except  that  the  land 
taxes  are  collected  by  the  hsien  officials.  The  Military  Guard  has 
recently  (1919)  established  a  tax  on  all  stores  doing  business  in 
the  territory  under  its  control.  The  maximum  tax  is  $1.50  a 
month  and  is  graded  according  to  the  amount  of  business  done 
by  the  store. 

In  the  days  when  Peking  had  no  regular  police  force,  the 
South  City  was  under  the  control  of  the  Military  Guard  and  was 
the  5th  or  South  Department  of  the  Guard.  Now,  the  South 
City  is  under  the  police,  but  even  so,  the  Military  Guard  still 
maintains  its  organization  for  that  department. 

The  principal  duties  of  the  Military  Guard  in  Peking  are  put- 
ting its  seal  on  all  proclamations  for  the  city,  guarding  all  the 
city  gates  and  posting  extra  guards  on  the  main  highways.  These 
guards  are  allowed  to  make  arrests  without  first  notifying  the 
police,  if  they  find  the  offender  in  the  North  City,  but  they  can- 


GOVERNMENT  71 

not  do  so  in  the  South  City.  The  police  are  jealous  of  the  power 
that  the  Military  Guard  used  to  have  in  the  South  City,  and  so 
insist  that  no  arrests  be  made  without  their  having  been  notified. 
They  want  to  make  sure  that  the  Military  Guard  is  not  using  the 
organization  that  it  still  maintains  for  the  South  City. 

The  guards  at  the  city  gates  and  throughout  the  district 
outside  the  walls  keep  a  careful  lookout  for  opium,  morphine, 
cocaine,  etc.  Any  that  is  found  is  confiscated,  if  it  does  not 
belong  to  an  official  too  high  in  rank,  and  later  on  is  publicly 
destroyed.  At  the  opium  burning  in  October,  1919,  over  7,000 
ounces  of  opium  were  destroyed,  while  the  total  value  of  opium, 
morphine,  pipes,  needles,  etc.,  was  approximately  $50,000. 

When  there  are  disturbances  in  the  city,  the  Military  Guard 
is  greatly  increased,  there  being  always  a  large  number  of  troops 
camped  outside  the  city  that  can  be  called  on,  and  although  the 
Police,  Gendarme  and  Military  Officials  work  together  in  handling 
the  situation  there  seems  to  be  a  tendency  for  the  military  to 
assume  control,  largely  because  of  the  larger  forces  at  their 
command.  During  the  student  demonstrations  of  1919,  it  was 
apparently  the  Military  Guard  that  forced  the  arrest  of  the 
students 

MUNICIPAL   COUNCIL 

The  ordinary  municipal  business  of  Peking  is  carried  on 
under  the  direction  of  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  who  is  in  full 
charge  of  all  the  municipal  governments  in  China.  The  actual 
work  is  done  by  the  Municipal  Council  and  the  Police  Board. 

The  Minister  of  the  Interior  is  concurrently  president  of  the 
Peking  Municipal  Council  but  of  necessity  must  delegate  most 
of  the  work.  The  first  vice-president  is  really  the  one  in  charge. 
He  is  appointed  by  the  President  of  China  on  recommendation 
of  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  and  with  the  approval  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce.  As  far  as  can  be  learned,  this  is  the 
only  place  where  the  citizens  of  Peking  have  any  participation 
in  or  control  over  the  Government,  except,  of  course,  that  exerted 
by  the  force  of  public  opinion.  Changes  and  improvements  are 
made,  not  because  the  people  want  and  demand  them,  but  because 
the  officials  believe  that  they  ought  to  be  made  for  the  benefit  of 
the  capital. 

The  other  officers  of  the  Council  consist  of  a  second  vice- 
president  appointed  by  the  President  of  China,  four  heads  and 
four  vice-heads  of  departments,  forty  secretaries,  two  to  four 
engineers,  four  to  eight  architects  and  six  to  twelve  investigators, 
besides  clerks  and  minor  employees.  The  principal  sub-officers 
are  appointed  by  the  head  officers  of  the  Council;  the  minor 
employees  of  the  various  departments,  by  the  departmental  heads. 


72  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

For  administrative  purposes  the  Municipal  Council  is  divided 
into  four  departments  in  charge  of  the  following  work: 

DEPARTMENT  ONE. 

I.  Correspondence  Division.  Receipt  and  mailing  of  all  cor- 
respondence, the  publication  of  notices  and  proclamations,  the  use 
of  the  Council  seal,  filing. 

II.  Accounting  Division.     Preparation  of  the  budget,  receipt 
and  disbursement  of  all  money,  auditing  of  claims  and  accounts. 

III.  Editing  Division.     Preparation  of  reports,  editing  of  the 
Municipal   Council   Magazine,   keeping   of   the   minutes   of   the 
meetings  of  the  Council,  care  of  the  maps  and  books  belonging 
to  the  Council. 

IV.  Miscellaneous  Division.     Purchase  and  storing  of  ma- 
terials and  supplies,  supervision  of  clerks,  guards  and  servants, 
general  miscellaneous  matters  not  definitely  belonging  to  other 
departments. 

DEPARTMENT  Two. 

I.  Political  Division.     Things  having  to  do  with  communi- 
cation, industry,  public  health,  relief,  city  business. 

II.  Property  Division.     Care  of  city  property,  revision  of 
regulations  dealing  with  city  affairs. 

III.  Investigation  Division.     Laying  out  and  changing  city 
streets,  investigation  of  the  use  of  private  property  by  the  govern- 
ment, building  permits,  buying  and  selling  of  property. 

DEPARTMENT  THREE. 

I.  Construction  Inspection  Division.     Inspection  of  all  con- 
struction  work,   examination   of   all  estimates    for   engineering 
work,   preparation   of  list   of  kinds   and   amounts   of   material 
needed. 

II.  Surveying  Division.     Surveying  of  new  and  old  roads, 
bridges,  sewers,  making  a  map  of  the  city,  special  surveying  for 
other  boards. 

III.  Engineering    Division.      Planning    of    all    engineering 
work,  making  of  maps,  designs,  sketches,  working  drawings. 

DEPARTMENT  FOUR. 

I.  Construction  Division.  Construction  work  connected 
with  roads,  bridges,  sewers  and  other  city  work. 

This  Division  is  in  charge  of  one  head  man  and  five  assist- 
ants. It  employs  two  recording  secretaries,  ten  foremen,  two 


GOVERNMENT  73 

hundred  laborers.    The  six  steam  rollers  are  in  charge  of  fifteen 
engineers. 

II.  Estimating  Division.    Superintending  of  work  to  be  done 
by  the  city,  superintending  of  all  work  done  by  contract,  prepara- 
tion of  estimates  for  construction  work. 

III.  Material  and  Supply  Division.     Purchase  of  all  mate- 
rials, the  lending  and  sale  of  construction  materials,  issuing  of 
materials  to  the  construction  division. 

Purchases  amounting  to  over  $500  must  be  advertised  and 
bids  must  be  called  for.  On  amounts  less  than  $500,  the  estimates 
of  four  or  more  stores  are  reported  to  the  Council  for  its  con- 
sideration, and  advertising  is  not  required. 

The  hospital  for  contagious  diseases  and  a  reform  society 
for  industry  and  commerce  are  also  maintained  by  the  Municipal 
Council. 

The  income  of  the  Council  is  derived  from  taxes  levied  on 
stores,  vehicles,  theaters,  prostitutes  and  brothels,  the  sale  and 
mortgaging  of  property  and  from  rent  paid  for  the  use  of  the 
city  property. 

The  store  taxes  are  based  on  the  business  done  by  the  stores 
and  amount  to  from  j£  to  2/$  of  I  percent  of  their  income.  They 
are  grouped  into  fourteen  different  classes,  paying  from  10  cents 
to  over  $20  a  month.  The  total  tax  collected  amounts  to  some 
$31,000  a  month,  a  monthly  average  for  the  stores  of  the  city  of 
approximately  $1.25. 

A  total  of  $  11,000  a  month  is  collected  from  the  377  brothels 
and  3,130  registered  prostitutes  of  the  city.  The  brothels  pay 
$24,  $14,  $6  or  $3  a  month,  and  the  prostitutes  $4,  $1.50,  $i  or 
$0.50  a  month,  depending  upon  the  class  in  which  they  are 
placed. 

The  taxes  on  vehicles  amount  to  some  $11,000  a  month. 
Automobiles  pay  $4,  carriages  $2,  passenger  carts  60  coppers, 
rickshas  40  coppers,  freight  carts  100  coppers,  and  hand  push 
carts  60  coppers  a  month.  Carts  that  come  into  the  city  only 
occasionally  pay  four  coppers  a  day.  When  the  taxes  are  paid 
for  the  entire  year,  one  month's  taxes  are  rebated,  except  on 
hand  carts  for  which  the  tax  is  only  $i  a  year  even  though  the 
monthly  tax  is  60  coppers. 

The  Magazine  published  by  the  Municipal  Council  contains 
some  hundred  pages  and  now  appears  monthly.  It  was  first 
started  in  the  nth  month  of  the  3rd  year  of  the  Republic 
(November,  1914)  and  appeared  approximately  three  times  a 
month,  Series  I  that  ended  in  the  3rd  month  of  the  5th  year  of 
the  Republic  (March,  1916)  containing  32  numbers.  Series  II 
began  in  March,  1917,  and  since  then  has  appeared  approximately 


74  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

once  a  month,  the  issue  for  June,  1919,  being  Number  21.  The 
magazine  contains  articles  that  describe  city  administration  in 
foreign  countries,  that  give  the  history  of  cities  in  China  and 
that  discuss  various  municipal  problems.  Those  that  deal  with 
the  problems  of  foreign  countries  are,  for  the  most  part,  trans- 
lations of  articles  published  in  foreign  magazines.  Various 
reports  concerning  Peking  are  also  included.  These  give  the 
figures  for  the  chou  ch'ang,  or  soup  kitchens,  reported  births 
and  deaths,  building  permits  issued,  the  monthly  report  of  the 
hospital  for  contagious  diseases,  and  occasional  estimates  of 
sewer  and  street  work.  In  practically  no  case,  however,  are 
the  reports  on  any  one  subject  complete  and  continuous  for  any 
length  of  time. 

Residences  in  Peking  pay  no  taxes.  In  the  past,  the  city 
was  not  only  the  home  of  the  Emperor,  but  many  of  those  who 
have  lived  there  have  been  either  government  officials  or 
Manchus,  who  have  been  supported  by  a  government  pension. 
Consequently,  no  land  taxes  were  collected  in  the  city  and  the 
cost  of  the  city  government  was  paid  from  the  income  received 
from  the  provinces.  This  exemption  has  been  continued  under 
the  Republic,  but  a  tax  has  been  levied  on  the  sale  and  mortgaging 
of  all  real  estate.  This  amounts  to  6  percent  of  the  sale  price  of 
the  land  unless  the  seller  is  a  Manchu  noble,  in  which  case  the 
deed  for  the  property  is  made  on  special  red  paper  and  the  tax  is 
4/^  percent.  If  the  land  is  a  gift  or  the  price  is  below  the 
regular  market  price,  the  value  of  the  sale  for  tax  purposes  is 
estimated  at  $70  a  "chien"  (room)  if  the  house  is  of  brick,  and  $20 
a  "chien"  if  the  building  is  made  of  earth.  When  the  land  is 
mortgaged  the  tax  is  3  percent  of  the  amount  of  the  mortgage. 
Deeds  and  mortgages  to  be  legal  and  binding  must  be  stamped 
by  the  tax  bureau,  showing  that  taxes  have  been  paid. 

Before  the  taxes  will  be  accepted  by  the  tax  bureau,  the 
deeds  must  be  ratified  by  the  Municipal  Council.  The  buyer 
and  seller  sign  a  joint  petition  to  the  Council,  asking  for  the 
approval  of  the  deeds,  and  file  the  petition  with  the  police  who 
forward  it  to  the  Council.  The  property  is  inspected  by  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  Council,  in  order  that  the  description  of  the 
property  and  all  buildings  may  be  properly  entered  on  the  deed, 
and  any  encroachments  on  public  property,  etc.,  may  be  discov- 
ered. The  deed,  as  ratified,  is  returned  to  the  police  for  delivery 
to  the  purchaser  of  the  property,  who  can  then  pay  the  purchase 
price  of  the  land.  The  taxes  must  be  paid  within  six  months. 
Whenever  any  new  buildings  are  erected  or  the  outlines  of  old 
buildings  are  changed,  the  deeds  for  the  property  have  to  be 
returned  to  the  police  and  be  re-issued,  so  that  they  will  show- 
accurately  all  the  buildings  on  the  land. 


GOVERNMENT  70 

The  right  of  Eminent  Domain  has  been  given  to  the  Munici- 
pal Council  and  can  be  used  for  any  public  purpose,  though  it  is 
ordinarily  invoked  in  the  improvement  of  communication  and 
the  development  of  markets.  Land  can  be  condemned  by  the 
promulgation  of  a  resolution  of  the  Municipal  Council  and  court 
proceedings  are  apparently  unnecessary.  Payment  is  made  for 
the  land  taken  from  citizens  or  private  organizations  according 
to  the  amount  taken  and  the  damage  done,  but  the  amount  is 
determined  according  to  a  fixed  scale  rather  than  the  appraised 
value  of  the  property.  First  class  houses,  those  made  of  good 
material  and  with  rooms  that  are  more  than  i4'xii',  are  paid 
for  at  the  rate  of  $100  a  "chien"  when  bought  outright,  and 
$50  a  "chien"  if  the  owner  is  required  to  remove  them  from 
the  land.  Second  class  houses,  those  built  of  good  materials, 
with  rooms  less  than  I4'xii'  and  more  than  12'  x  10'  and 
those  of  first  class  dimensions  made  of  inferior  material,  are 
bought  for  $70  a  "chien"  and  moved  for  $30.  Third  class 
houses,  those  of  first  and  second  class  dimensions  but  built  of 
inferior  material,  and  those  of  first  class  construction  with  rooms 
less  than  I2'x8'  are  bought  for  $50  a  "chien"  and  moved  for 
$20  a  "chien." 

Two-story  houses  are  considered  to  contain  one-and-a-half 
times  the  number  of  "chien"  on  the  first  floor. 

When  only  part  of  a  piece  of  property  is  taken,  the  amount 
to  be  paid  is  determined  by  the  Municipal  Council  but  is  never 
more  than  the  buying  or  moving  fee  for  the  class  of  building 
involved. 

It  has  been  impossible  for  us  to  determine  the  size  of  the 
budget  of  the  Municipal  Council.  Various  reports  are  published 
in  the  Municipal  Council  Magazine,  but  they  do  not  appear 
regularly.  One  report  gave  the  expenditure  for  the  last  half 
of  the  3rd  year  of  the  Republic  (1914)  as  $104,650,  including 
$39»839  for  street  repair  and  $27,575  expenses  of  the  tax  bureau. 
The  amount  collected  by  the  tax  bureau  is  undoubtedly  more 
than  is  needed  for  the  work  of  the  Municipal  Council,  but  is 
far  from  enough  for  the  entire  city  government.  The  deficit 
is  made  up  by  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  from  the  funds  of 
the  National  Government. 

POLICE   BOARD 

Peking  has  well  been  called  the  best  policed  city  in  the  Orient. 
Any  one  visiting  the  city  is  struck  by  the  large  number  of  traffic 
officers  on  the  streets,  one  every  few  hundred  yards  on  the  busy 
thoroughfares,  while  those  who  live  in  the  city  are  constantly 
amazed  at  the  extent  and  efficiency  of  the  work  done  by  the 


76  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

police.  A  minor  traffic  accident  is  sure  to  bring  five  or  six 
officers  together,  while  if  one  wants  any  information  concerning 
the  life  or  government  of  the  city,  the  police  are  the  best  ones 
to  consult.  The  Peking  Police  Board  not  only  exercises  the 
ordinary  police  functions,  control  of  traffic,  arresting  of  crimi- 
nals, etc.,  but  it  also  discharges  the  duties  of  the  Board  of  Health, 
the  Fire  and  Street-Cleaning  Departments  and  the  Census 
Bureau.  It  is  also  in  charge  of  two  hospitals  and  most  of  the 
charitable  institutions  of  the  city.  Almost  10,000  men  are  con- 
nected with  the  Peking  Police  force,  while  the  annual  budget 
is  over  two  and  a  quarter  million  dollars.  See  statistics  of  Police 
Reports,  in  Appendix. 

The  Police  Board,  as  now  constituted,  is  organized  according 
to  the  terms  of  a  Presidential  Mandate  issued  in  August,  1914, 
which  provided  that  local  police  departments  should  be  estab- 
lished in  the  provincial  capitals  and  commercial  centers,  to  take 
charge  of  all  matters  relating  to  policing,  public  health  and  fire 
protection.  Even  prior  to  that  time  there  were  police  in  Peking, 
for  as  nearly  as  we  could  learn  the  police  organization  was 
first  established  in  1902.  We  have  not  been  able  to  secure  any 
information  concerning  the  powers  and  organization  of  the 
police  force  under  the  Empire,  but  we  have  been  fortunate  in 
procuring  from  the  Chief  of  Police  a  very  complete  report  of 
the  present-day  organization  and  work  of  the  Board. 

The  Chief  of  Police,  who  is  appointed  by  the  President  of 
China  upon  the  request  of  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  is  under 
the  direct  supervision  of,  and  responsible  to,  the  Ministry  of 
the  Interior.  He  appoints  his  immediate  subordinates,  heads 
of  departments,  and  with  them  constitutes  the  Police  Board  that 
decides  all  questions  of  policy  and  the  course  that  shall  be  pur- 
sued in  case  of  any  unforseen  emergency. 

For  administrative  purposes,  the  Police  Board  is  divided  into 
two  departments,  Inside  and  Outside. 

THE  INSIDE  DEPARTMENT,  which  is  responsible  for  all  general 
administrative  and  headquarters  work,  is  organized  with  seven 
departments : 

I.  Secretariat. 

II.  General  Management.     In  charge  of  all  correspondence, 
the  preparation  of  the  budget,  the  handling  of  all  moneys,  the 
control  of  all  under-officers  and  men. 

III.  Political  Affairs.     Responsible  for  the  preservation  of 
peace,  the  reform  of  customs,  the  control  of  the  streets  and  street 
lighting,  the  taking  of  the  census,  the  oversight  of  the  business 
of  the  city  and  the  issuing  of  building  permits. 

IV.  Legal  Matters.     Including  the  carrying  out  of  all  pun- 
ishments, the  supervision  of  the  jails,  the  management  of  the 


GOVERNMENT  77 

detective  force  and  the  preparation  of  regulations  and  ordinances. 

V.  Hygiene.     This    Department    is    really    the    Board    of 
Health.     The  first  of  its  three  sub-divisions  is  responsible  for 
the  roads,  sewers  and  public  toilets  of  the  city;  the  second  is  in 
charge  of  the  general  health  and  the  prevention  of  disease;  the 
third  supervises  the  hospitals  of  the  city  and  licenses  all  doctors, 
midwives,  and  the  sale  of  medicines. 

VI.  Outside  Work.     In  charge  of  the  guarding  of  streets, 
the  prevention  of  gambling,  etc. 

VII.  The  Fire  Department. 

THE  OUTSIDE  DEPARTMENT,  which  is  responsible  for  the 
actual  work  throughout  the  city,  has  three  sub-divisions: 

I.  The  20  Police  Districts,  into  which  the  city  is  divided: 
Central  I  and  Central  2  are  on  the  east  and  west  sides  of 

Imperial  City.  The  Districts  Left  Inside  I  to  4  and  Right  Inside 
i  to  4  are  on  the  east  and  west  sides  of  the  North  or  Tartar  City, 
while  Outside  Left  I  to  5  and  Outside  Right  I  to  5  are  in  the  east 
and  west  halves  of  the  South  or  Chinese  City.  The  areas  of  the 
Districts  vary  from  3.5  sq.  li  (0.45  sq.  miles)  in  Outside  Left 
I  to  19.4  sq.  li.  (2.48  sq.  miles)  in  Outside  Right  5.  The  popula- 
tion of  the  Districts  varies  from  10,124  m  Central  2  to  67,762  in 
Left  Inside  2. 

II.  Other  Departments,  including  the  Gendarmes,  the  Cav- 
alry, the  Detectives,  the  Firemen  and  the  Band. 

III.  The  Miscellaneous   Organizations,  that  are  in  charge 
of  the  institutions  run  by  the  police,  including  the  three  Police 
Schools  for  officers,  men  and  recruits,  the  department  for  the 
registration  of  prostitutes,  the  Yu  Ming  Workhouse,  the  Door 
of    Hope,    the    Reform    School,    the    two    City    Hospitals,    the 
Women's  Industrial  Home,  the  Tung  An  and  Kuang  An  Mar- 
kets and  the  Museums. 

The  men  in  charge  of  these  various  departments  and  their 
sub-divisions  (the  Police  Districts  have  from  2  to  5  sub-divisions, 
the  Gendarmes  4  and  the  Firemen  6)  number  289 — 164  in  the 
Inside  Department  and  125  in  the  Outside  Department.  Besides 
these,  there  are  245  Police  Captains,  757  under-officers,  7,588 
men,  a  total  of  8,590,  an  increase  of  815  (10.2  percent)  during 
the  last  five  years.  In  1910,  the  entire  police  force  of  New 
York  City  numbered  9,255.  The  Peking  Fire  Department 
employs  578  officers  and  men  and  the  detectives  332,  making  the 
total  number  of  men  connected  with  the  police  force,  9,789. 
This  is  12  police  for  every  1,000  inhabitants  in  the  city  and  50.5 
officers  per  square  li  (395  per  sq.  mile)  of  the  city's  area.  In  the 
different  police  districts  the  number  per  square  li  varies  from 
ii  in  Outside  Left  4,  the  agricultural  district  east  of  the  Temple 


78  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

of  Heaven,  to  105  in  Outside  Left  i,  just  outside  Ch'ien  Men, 
which  is  one  of  the  most  densely  populated  districts  in  the  city 
and  one  that  is  primarily  given  over  to  business.  In  the  different 
districts  the  number  of  police  per  1,000  inhabitants  varies  from 
3  in  Inside  Left  4  to  19  in  Central  2. 

The  Gendarmes  or  special  police,  which  are  popularly  known 
in  Peking  as  "The  White  Leggings"  (a  part  of  their  summer  and 
winter  uniform  being  a  pair  of  white  canvas  leggings),  are  a 
special  police  force  of  1,127  officers  and  men,  that  is  inde- 
pendent of  the  regular  force  even  though  it  is  under  the  control 
of  the  Police  Board.  The  Gendarmes  are  recruited  from 
the  members  of  the  regular  police  force  who  show  special  ability, 
but  before  being  finally  accepted  the  men  are  given  special 
training.  As  a  consequence,  they  are  older,  better  set  up  and 
appear  to  be  somewhat  more  efficient  in  their  work  than  the  regu- 
lar police  force.  Under  ordinary  conditions,  their  principal  duty 
is  the  stationing  of  special  guards  on  the  highways,  while  in  time 
of  trouble  or  when  special  work  is  required,  they  are  the  first 
ones  called  upon.  Outside  of  Peking,  the  Gendarmes  are  often 
found  engaged  on  matters  that  in  America  would  be  handled  by 
the  State  police.  The  head  of  the  Gendarmes  is  assisted  by  a 
foreign  adviser,  General  Munthe. 

The  regular  police  force  includes  one  division  of  cavalry, 
composed  of  106  men,  but  these  appear  on  the  streets  only  in 
times  of  disturbance  or  on  special  occasions. 

The  detectives,  a  group  of  336  men  organized  in  three  divi- 
sions, carry  on  a  very  extensive  work  and  one  that  seems  to  be 
very  thoroughly  done,  as  the  Peking  police  are  able  to  keep  in 
touch  with  everything  going  on  in  the  city. 

The  578  firemen  are  organized  into  six  divisions,  each  of 
which  is  responsible  for  a  section  of  the  city.  As  Peking  has 
no  general  electrical  fire  alarm  system,  special  watch  towers 
have  been  erected,  and  from  the  tops  of  these  guards  are  con- 
stantly on  the  lookout  for  fires.  The  fire-fighting  equipment 
consists,  for  the  most  part,  of  old-style  hand-operated  engines 
that  are  able  to  throw  only  a  small  stream  of  water,  but  a  high 
power  automobile  fire  truck  has  recently  been  purchased  and 
is  housed  in  one  of  the  buildings  near  the  Pei  Hai  or  North  Sea. 
Water  is  secured  from  the  wells  and  also  from  the  mains  of  the 
Peking  Water  Company. 

Any  one  who  has  seen  a  fire  in  a  Chinese  city  is  not  apt  to 
forget  it  very  soon.  The  fire  department  comes  pulling  its 
engines  by  hand,  and  carrying  flags  in  the  day  time  or  large 
lanterns  at  night.  The  men  who  are  to  carry  water  from  the 
wells  hurriedly  put  on  the  coats  of  the  fire  department,  so  they 
will  be  allowed  inside  the  lines  that  are  quickly  established  by 


STUDENT   DEMONSTRATIONS,   JUNE  4TH   AND   5TH,    1919. 
Against    the    Government    and    the    Shantung    Award. 


Part    of    a    nation-wide 


movement. 


STUDENT  DEMONSTRATIONS,  JUNE  4TH  AND  5TH,   1919. 
The  police  breaking  up  one  of  the  meetings. 


ARRESTED    STUDENTS   GOING   TO    JAIL. 

Over  900  students  representing  all  the  higher  schools  in  the  city  were  arrested 
during  the  two  days'  demonstrations.  More  were  not  arrested  because  the 
government  gave  in. 


STUDENT  GUARD  AT  THE  GOVERNMENT  LAW   SCHOOL,   THE   STUDENT  JAIL. 

Although  the  government  guards  were  removed  the  students  refused  to  leave 
their  jail  until  they  received  an  apology  from  the  government  and  permission 
to  lecture  on  the  street*. 


GOVERNMENT  79 

the  police,  and  then  rush  buckets  of  water  to  the  hand-pumped 
engines.  While  the  men  at  the  engines  and  hose  are  doing  their 
best  to  put  out  the  fire,  the  police  stand  around  and  blow  their 
whistles,  apparently  doing  their  bit  by  scaring  away  the  fire 
spirits. 

Peking  does  not  give  its  firemen  a  great  deal  to  do,  as  in  1917 
there  were  only  93  fires  and  these  involved  a  total  of  only  154 
houses.  Eighty-five  of  these  were  totally  destroyed  while  69 
were  damaged.  Fifteen  houses  were  more  or  less  demolished 
by  the  fire  department  in  the  fighting  of  fires.  Peking  is  a  city 
built  of  brick  and  mud  walls,  while  the  floors  are  ordinarily 
dirt  or  tile  so  that  even  though  the  houses  are  heated  by  small 
movable  stoves,  there  are  but  few  fires  in  the  city  and  when  one 
does  start,  the  damage  is  small.  If  one  of  the  cities  of  South 
China  had  the  same  number  of  fires,  the  result  would  be  very 
different.  There,  the  houses  are  built  almost  entirely  of  wood  and, 
once  a  fire  is  started,  it  usually  takes  a  large  number  of  houses.  In 
Peking,  on  the  average,  less  than  two  houses  were  involved  in 
every  fire  that  occurred,  and  so  the  large  burned  districts  that  one 
often  sees  in  the  cities  in  South  and  Central  China  are  seen  but 
seldom  in  Peking. 

From  the  table  (see  Appendix)  giving  the  police  districts  in 
which  fires  occurred,  it  does  not  seem  that  any  one  district  of 
the  city  is  particularly  responsible  for  fires.  There  are  four 
districts  that  have  10  or  more  fires  during  the  year  and  the 
general  character  of  these  is  very  different.  Inside  Left  I,  in 
which  14  fires  occurred,  is  a  district  where  residences  and  shops 
are  intermingled.  Outside  Right  I  and  Outside  Right  2,  with 
10  and  16  fires  respectively,  are  both  business  districts,  while 
Outside  Left  4,  in  which  there  were  10  fires,  is  primarily  a  resi- 
dence district.  Over  one- fourth  of  the  fires  (24)  occurred  in 
January,  which  is  the  month  when,  because  of  the  cold  weather, 
the  largest  amount  of  fire  is  required  in  the  city,  and  also  the 
month  just  previous  to  the  Chinese  New  Year  when  every  one 
is  supposed  to  settle  all  of  his  accounts.  A  table  of  the  number  of 
fires  by  months  is  given  in  the  Appendix. 

The  annual  expenditures  (see  tables  in  Appendix)  of  the 
Police  Board  amount  to  over  two-and-a-quarter  million  dollars. 
In  1917  the  amount  was  $2,235,934.  Of  this  $2,209,824  was  spent 
for  the  regular  police  work,  and  $24,110  for  work  done  for  other 
organizations.  The  regular  expenses,  salaries,  rations,  office  ex- 
penses, amounted  to  $1,612,435.  Just  what  is  included  under  sala- 
ries and  rations  is  not  clear,  but  apparently  "salaries"  represents 
the  money  paid  the  head  men,  while  the  allowances  of  the  ordinary 
policemen  are  "rations."  If  this  is  so,  the  average  salary  is 
approximately  $1,300,  while  the  wages  and  food  allowance  of  the 


80  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

men  average  $113  a  year.  The  ordinary  patrolman  is  paid  $6  to  $8 
a  month  in  money,  besides  being  given  a  food  allowance  that 
amounts  to  something  over  $2  a  month. 

Special  expenses  amounted  to  $377,760  including  $300,000 
for  uniforms,  $20,194  for  the  police  schools,  $16,759  f°r  tne 
erection  of  buildings,  $10,042  for  fuel,  $4,569  for  house  num- 
bers and  census  supplies  (each  house  in  the  city  is  given  a  blue 
and  white  enamel  number  plate  on  which  appear  the  number  of 
the  police  district,  the  name  of  the  street  and  the  house  number) 
and  $3,086  for  charity. 

Other  expenses  totaled  $221,629  and  included  $136,579  for 
street  cleaning,  $60,934  for  the  two  hospitals  run  by  the  police, 
$3,936  for  kung  ch'ang  (workshops),  $3,473  for  the  poor- 
houses,  $1,323  for  registering  the  prostitutes. 

The  $24,110  spent  for  other  organizations  included  $8,910 
for  food  for  officers  of  the  Police  Board  and  various  amounts 
for  the  protection  of  the  markets  and  mail,  the  care  of  flowers 
and  trees,  rewards  paid  to  men  who  do  not  belong  to  the  police 
force,  food  for  those  in  jail,  etc. 

The  Peking  police  are  annually  spending  an  average  of  $2.75 
per  person.  When  compared  with  the  amounts  that  are  being 
spent  in  cities  of  similar  size  in  other  countries,  this  does  not 
seem  to  be  very  much,  but  when  the  Chinese  standard  of  living 
is  considered,  it  is  really  a  large  amount.  Two  dollars  and 
seventy-five  cents  is  not  quite  half  the  monthly  money  wage  of 
the  ordinary  workman,  and  is  approximately  one-fourth  of  his 
money  wage  and  food  allowance.  Consequently,  the  police  are 
spending  every  year  for  a  family  of  four,  an  amount  equal  to 
one  month's  income  of  the  man  employed  as  a  clerk  in  a  store 
or  a  workman  in  a  shop.  If  this  amount  had  to  be  furnished 
by  those  who  live  in  Peking,  it  would  be  a  tremendous  burden, 
but,  fortunately  for  them,  most  of  it  is  supplied  by  the  National 
Government. 

CRIME 

During  the  last  five  years  the  police  have  been  arresting  an 
ever  increasing  number  of  persons  charged  with  crimes  and 
misdemeanors  (see,  in  Appendix,  several  tables  of  statistics  on 
crimes  and  misdemeanors).  In  the  6th  year  of  the  Republic 
(1917),  3,886  were  arrested  for  one  of  the  more  serious  crimes, 
and  22,870  for  misdemeanors.  In  the  2nd  year  of  the  Republic 
(1913),  the  number  arrested  for  crime  was  2,549  and  for  mis- 
demeanors 20,554.  In  both  groups  there  has  been  a  steady 
increase  year  by  year,  except  for  a  small  drop  in  the  number 
of  those  arrested  for  crime  in  1915.  The  crime  rate  per  1,000 
persons  has  increased  from  3.51  to  4.78,  while  the  misdemeanor 


GOVERNMENT  81 

rate  is  28.2,  the  same  as  it  was  in  1913.    The  combined  rate  is 
32.98  per  1,000. 

Although  the  police  do  not  give  the  detailed  statistics,  types 
of  crimes,  ages  of  criminals,  etc.,  for  those  who  are  charged  with 
crime,  they  do  give  them  for  those  charged  with  misdemeanors. 
Of  the  22,870  misdemeanants,  2,925  (12.8  percent)  were  women. 
One  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  of  these  were 
charged  with  violating  the  regulations  concerning  general  cus- 
toms, under  which  head  are  included  clandestine  prostitution,  the 
staging  of  immoral  plays,  the  destruction  or  defilement  of  tem- 
ples, ancestral  halls,  grave  tablets  and  public  works,  scolding  or 
making  fun  of  others  in  public,  refusing  to  stop  yelling  or  scold- 
ing in  the  streets,  conducting  gambling  or  similar  business  in 
the  streets  or  public  places,  and  wearing  clothes  of  such  peculiar 
styles  that  they  may  have  a  bad  effect  on  the  customs  of  the 
people.  Nine  hundred  and  sixty-seven  were  offenders  against 
the  general  police  regulations.  The  largest  number  of  men 
(7,403)  broke  the  general  regulations,  4,005  offended  against 
customs,  2,008  were  arrested  for  not  obeying  the  ordinances 
concerning  communications  and  2,076  for  violating  the  health 
ordinances.  Disturbing  the  peace  is  not  indulged  in  by  the 
Chinese  to  any  extent,  as  only  479  persons  were  accused  of  this 
misdemeanor. 

Three  thousand  and  fifty  of  the  misdemeanants  were  under 
ii  years  of  age.  Of  these,  1,349  (45  percent)  were  girls.  Con- 
sequently, 46  percent  of  the  female  misdemeanants  were  under 
n,  but  only  8.5  percent  of  the  males.  The  principal  offenses  of 
which  the  children  were  guilty  were  those  concerning  health, 
communication  and  customs,  all  but  207  of  the  3,050  being 
included  under  these  three  heads.  In  case  a  child  is  arrested 
and  brought  into  court,  no  penalty  is  imposed  on  the  child  even 
though  it  is  guilty,  but  the  parents  or  guardians  are  warned  by 
the  police  that  they  must  give  their  children  more  strict  disci- 
pline. The  same  is  true  for  those  who  are  insane.  If  the  child 
has  no  known  parents  or  guardian,  it  is  sent  to  the  industrial 
school  to  be  educated,  while  an  insane  person  is  sent  to  the 
asylum.  In  case  those  under  n  years  of  age  or  those  who  are 
insane  violate  the  police  rules  the  second  time  in  six  months,  the  ! 
penalty  that  would  ordinarily  be  imposed  on  them  is  imposed  on  • 
their  parents  or  guardian.  However,  in  such  a  case,  the  penalty ; 
is  always  a  fine  and  never  imprisonment. 

Among  the  male  misdemeanants,  the  largest  proportion  (33.5 
percent)  are  between  21  and  30  years  of  age,  and  except  for  the 
large  group  (46  percent)  under  n  years  of  age,  the  same  age 
group  has  the  largest  proportion  of  females,  19.6  percent.  Of 
all  the  males  in  the  city,  23.2  percent  are  in  the  21-30  year  group 


82  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

and  21.8  percent  are  in  the  31-40  year  group,  while  of  the  male 
misdemeanants,  33.4  percent  are  between  21  and  30  years  of 
age,  and  27.4  percent  between  31  and  40.  Of  all  the  females 
in  the  city,  66  percent  are  less  than  41  years  of  age,  but  87.8 
percent  of  the  female  misdemeanants  are  under  that  age.  The 
older  age  groups  do  not  contribute  their  share  of  misdemeanants 
so  that  the  problem  of  crime  in  Peking  is  largely  one  that 
involves  men  who  are  under  40.  Peking  is  a  city  of  men  and 
of  young  men  (see  age  and  sex  tables  in  Appendix),  therefore 
any  attempt  to  improve  the  crime  situation  must  include  the 
improvement  of  the  influences  around  the  young  men,  so  many 
of  whom  are  living  away  from  home. 

Of  the  22,870  misdemeanants,  17,150  were  those  who  had 
committed  the  crime,  1,923  were  accomplices,  while  204  were 
instigators  of  the  crime,  100  were  insane  and  81  intoxicated  when 
they  committed  their  crimes. 

From  the  table  giving  the  convictions  by  months,  it  does  not 
appear  that  there  is  any  outstanding  relation  between  the  amount 
of  crime  and  the  time  of  year,  except  that  there  is  less  crime 
during  the  fall  and  winter  months  than  there  is  during  the  spring 
and  summer.  From  September  to  February,  there  were  less  than 
1,900  convictions  per  month,  the  maximum  being  1,895  m  Novem- 
ber and  the  minimum  1,511  in  December.  From  March  to 
August  inclusive,  there  were  over  2,100  convictions  a  month 
except  in  July  when  there  were  only  1,489,  the  smallest  number 
of  any  month  in  the  year.  The  maximum  number  (2,307)  were 
convicted  in  May.  The  average  per  month  was  1,906. 

The  tables  do  not  give  the  number  of  misdemeanants  in  each 
Police  District,  so  it  is  impossible  to  determine  whether  or  not 
the  character  of  the  different  Districts  or  the  density  of  the  popu- 
lation has  any  influence  upon  the  amount  of  crime. 

Three  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty-six  robberies  and 
thefts  were  reported  to  the  police  during  the  year.  Seven  of 
these  were  robberies  involving  breaking  in  and  stealing,  2,490 
were  thefts,  583  people  had  their  pockets  picked,  while  property 
was  taken  from  806  persons  under  false  pretenses.  The  value 
of  the  articles  taken  amounted  to  $20,714,  the  average  loss  being 
$5.53.  In  514  cases  the  thieves  secured  goods  that  were  of  no 
value.  The  thieves'  market  held  outside  of  Ch'ien  Men  very 
early  in  the  morning  is  one  of  the  sights  of  the  city  and  people 
who  have  lost  goods  are  often  able  to  find  them  offered  for  sale 
there.  Through  watching  the  pawn  shops  and  the  market,  the 
police  are  wonderfully  successful  in  tracing  stolen  goods. 

There  is  a  tremendous  variation  in  the  number  of  robberies 
and  thefts  reported  from  the  various  police  districts.  Right  Out- 
side 2,  in  which  is  centered  much  of  the  amusement  life  of  the 


GOVERNMENT  83 

city  and  in  which  is  the  principal  red  light  district,  reported  1,379. 
The  next  largest  number  was  276  in  Inside  Left  i.  The  smallest 
number  (14)  was  reported  from  Central  2.  Five  of  the  20 
Districts  reported  less  than  50  each,  while  4,  Inside  Left  I  and 
4  and  Outside  Right  I  and  2,  each  had  more  than  200. 

If  the  Police  Report  can  be  taken  as  any  criterion,  the  Chinese 
are  not  a  people  who  are  careless  with  their  belongings.  Money 
and  goods  that  were  found  by  the  police  or  found  by  private 
citizens  and  reported  to  the  police  were  valued  at  only  $1,109.37. 
Six  hundred  and  eighteen  of  the  articles  found  had  no  value. 
Sixty-five  percent  of  the  money  and  66  percent  of  the  goods  of 
any  value  were  returned  to  their  owners,  but  only  30  percent  of 
the  goods  that  had  no  value. 

Wherever  possible,  the  police  attempt  to  keep  people  out  of 
court.  The  officers  often  stop  a  fight,  find  out  what  it  is  about, 
settle  the  matter  and  send  the  contestants  on  their  way  rather 
than  arrest  them.  Even  when  men  have  taken  too  much  liquor 
and  are  unable  to  get  home,  the  police  will  help  them  home 
rather  than  arrest  them.  To  us,  it  certainly  was  a  strange  sight 
to  see  three  police  officers  taking  home  a  man  who  was  drunk. 

The  police  report  that  in  1917,  they  helped  5,267  persons. 
This  number  includes  1,561  who  had  been  fighting,  466  lost  chil- 
dren, 574  victims  of  accident  or  sudden  sickness,  212  who  were 
drunk,  150  who  were  poisoned  and  84  who  had  attempted  suicide. 
Of  the  total  number,  857  were  women  and  seven  were  foreigners. 

Besides  the  work  connected  with  the  prevention  of  crime, 
the  direction  of  traffic,  the  recovery  of  lost  or  stolen  goods,  the 
police  are  engaged  in  many  other  activities  closely  connected 
with  the  life  of  the  people.  They  take  the  census  of  the  city 
once  a  year  and  must  be  notified  of  all  removals,  births,  deaths, 
marriages,  etc.  Every  store  in  the  city  is  visited  at  least  once 
every  10  days  by  an  officer  who  is  entitled  to  ask  any  questions 
that  he  sees  fit.  The  police  see  to  it  that  the  shops  and  vehicles 
pay  their  monthly  taxes,  and  once  a  month  they  inspect  all 
vehicles  for  hire,  particularly  the  rickshas.  Burial  permits  must 
be  secured  from  the  police  before  a  funeral  can  be  held.  All 
meetings  must  be  reported  to  them  and  seats  must  be  provided 
for  their  representatives  who  act  as  censors.  In  1917,  961  such 
meetings  were  attended  by  the  police.  They  are  not  only  respon- 
sible for  the  cleaning,  lighting  and  sprinkling  of  the  main  streets 
of  the  city,  but  they  are  also  in  charge  of  similar  work  on  many 
of  the  smaller  streets  even  though  the  expenses  of  such  work 
are  paid  by  the  families  living  on  those  streets.  In  the  past,  this 
work  was  done  by  local  committees,  but  since  the  police  have 
been  willing  to  collect  the  money  and  look  after  the  work  the 
citizens  have  gradually  turned  the  work  over  to  them.  Conse- 


84  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

quently,  the  police  officers  are  making  monthly  visits  to  many 
of  the  houses  to  collect  the  contributions  for  the  lighting  and 
sprinkling  of  the  streets.  On  the  small  streets  where  the  street 
cleaning  work  is  not  organized,  the  police  require  each  family 
to  clean  the  street  in  front  of  its  door. 

Building  regulations  have  been  promulgated  by  the  Police 
Board  and  the  Municipal  Council.  These  require  that  any  one 
erecting  a  new  building  or  changing  the  outline  of  an  old  one 
must  secure  a  building  permit  from  the  police  before  starting 
any  construction  work.  Applications  for  permits  are  received 
every  Monday,  and  under  ordinary  circumstances  are  approved 
and  returned  the  following  Monday.  If  any  of  the  buildings  or 
walls  touch  the  lot  lines,  the  owner  of  the  land  must  bring  his 
deed  to  the  property  with  him  when  he  applies  for  a  building 
permit,  so  that  the  police  and  Municipal  Council  can  assure  them- 
selves that  the  buildings  are  within  the  lot  line.  If  the  deeds 
cannot  be  presented  because  they  are  in  the  hands  of  the  mort- 
gagor, or  in  some  other  province  a  permit  will  be  issued,  pro- 
viding the  owner  can  get  some  shop  or  store  to  act  as  his  guaran- 
tor. As  changes  have  recently  been  made  in  the  boundaries  of 
some  of  the  streets  of  the  city,  particularly  those  that  have  been 
improved,  the  police  are  especially  careful  to  see  that  there  are 
no  encroachments  on  public  property  and  that  any  houses  now 
on  public  land  are  removed,  whenever  any  new  construction  is 
being  carried  out.  The  petitions  filed  with  the  police  are  deliv- 
ered to  the  Municipal  Council  for  its  investigation  and  approval, 
as  the  land  on  the  improved  roads  and  at  all  corners  is  under 
the  special  jurisdiction  of  the  Council.  It  is  particularly  careful 
to  see  that  the  corners  are  properly  maintained.  If  the  traffic 
demands  it,  the  Council  requires  that  the  corners  be  rounded 
rather  than  square.  According  to  the  Council  regulations,  all 
down  spouts  must  be  constructed  so  that  the  water  is  carried 
into  the  earth  and  not  discharged  on  the  surface  of  the  street. 
Buildings  with  three  stories  or  that  are  apt  to  be  especially 
crowded,  must  have  special  stairs  and  two  or  more  special  exits, 
while  those  over  50  feet  high  must  be  equipped  with  lightning  rods. 

Ordinarily  the  Municipal  Council  investigation  does  not  take 
more  than  two  days  and  does  not  delay  the  issuing  of  the  permit 
through  the  police.  In  case  the  owner  of  a  piece  of  property  is 
involved  in  a  lawsuit  concerning  the  location  of  the  buildings 
relative  to  the  lot  line,  the  facts  must  be  determined  by  the 
Municipal  Council.  A  deed,  showing  the  location  of  the  buildings 
on  the  lot,  is  final  evidence  only  when  stamped  by  the  Municipal 
Council.  The  police  approval  is  not  final. 

The  Health  Department  of  the  police  is  of  course  responsible 
for  the  many  things  connected  with  the  health  of  the  city,  includ- 


GOVERNMENT  85 

ing  not  only  the  cleaning  of  the  streets,  the  care  of  the  sewers, 
but  also  the  examination  and  licensing  of  doctors  and  midwives 
and  the  inspection  of  all  medicines  offered  for  sale. 

The  managing  of  many  of  the  institutions  of  the  city  is  the 
most  unusual  work  that  is  being  done  by  the  police.  Since  the 
Revolution  of  1911,  they  have  taken  over  more  and  more  of  this 
work  until  now  they  have  some  connection  with  practically  all 
of  the  charitable  institutions.  They  are  in  entire  control  of  two 
hospitals,  the  insane  asylum,  the  poorhouses,  the  industrial 
schools,  the  reform  schools  and  the  rescue  home  for  prostitutes. 
They  have  also  opened  53  half-day  schools  in  various  parts  of 
the  city,  and  in  these  are  giving  some  education  to  4,000  poor 
children.  A  large  part  of  the  budget  of  these  schools  is  con- 
tributed by  the  well-to-do  people  of  the  districts  in  which  they 
are  located.  The  more  complete  details  of  this  part  of  the  police 
work  are  given  under  the  various  headings  of  Education,  Health, 
Population,  Poverty  and  Philanthropy. 

Our  experience  with  the  police  has  shown  that  they  are  an 
efficient,  well-trained  body  of  men;  that  they  know  Peking 
thoroughly  and  have  collected  a  great  amount  of  information 
concerning  the  city.  The  traffic  officers,  although  lacking  the 
force  and  authority  that  would  be  exerted  by  officers  in  western 
countries,  keep  the  traffic  moving  and  well  regulated.  The  ability 
of  the  police  to  find  stolen  goods  is  really  remarkable,  and  shows 
how  closely  they  are  able  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  life  of  the 
city.  In  making  out  the  report  of  their  work,  the  police  have 
given  us  many  statistics  that  are  of  great  value,  and  while  some 
of  them  may  as  yet  be  somewhat  incomplete  and  inaccurate,  they 
are  a  start  and  a  basis  for  further  improvement.  As  the  police 
have  more  and  more  experience  with  the  use  of  statistics,  they 
will  undoubtedly  realize  the  relation  they  bear  to  problems  of  the 
city ;  and  the  tables  will  be  more  complete.  At  present  our  feel- 
ing is  that  the  police  are  making  many  of  the  tables  because  they 
think  it  is  the  thing  to  do,  rather  than  because  they  thoroughly 
understand  the  use  of  the  statistics. 

In  general,  the  Peking  police  system  is  a  copy  of  those  used 
in  the  large  cities  of  Japan,  which  in  turn  are  based  on  the 
German  police  system.  It  reaches  out  and  touches  practically 
every  side  of  the  life  of  the  people,  and  during  these  years  of 
transition  has  done  wonderful  things  in  improving  and  develop- 
ing the  city.  The  only  question  that  can  be  raised  is :  Will  those 
at  the  head  of  the  police  work  see  the  possibilities  of  future 
development,  or  will  they  try  to  use  the  close  control  given  by 
the  extensive  system  as  a  means  of  oppressing  the  people  and 
smothering  any  democratic  movement  that  may  develop? 

In  making  a  study  of  the  government  of  Peking,  we  con- 


86  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

tinually  came  across  traces  of  democratic  and  community  con- 
trol— streets  or  districts  with  committees  organized  to  look  after 
the  various  public  works,  such  as  repairing,  sprinkling  and  light- 
ing the  streets,  furnishing  police  protection,  etc.  Even  in  1914 
the  police  regulations  called  for  the  organization  of  community 
control  districts,  but  at  the  present  time  the  functions  of  these 
democratic  organizations  are  being  taken  over  by  the  official 
boards,  particularly  by  the  police.  This  undoubtedly  makes  for 
efficiency  in  carrying  out  a  city-wide  program,  but  at  the  same 
time  the  people  are  losing  control  and  are  more  and  more  at  the 
mercy  of  the  officials  who  are  responsible  not  to  the  people  but 
to  officials  higher  up. 

As  the  people  become  better  educated  and  have  more  contact 
with  democratic  ideals,  are  they  going  to  be  able  to  gradually 
assume  control  of  the  government  or  will  they  be  held  down  by 
autocratic  officials  in  charge  of  the  police?  The  experiences  of 
the  past  few  months  have  given  us  considerable  cause  to  fear 
that  there  will  have  to  be  a  struggle  before  the  government  of 
Peking  is  democratic  as  well  as  modern  and  efficient. 

THE    STUDENT    MOVEMENT 

When  the  students  of  the  country,  under  the  leadership  of 
those  in  Peking,  formed  in  1919  a  nation-wide  organization  that 
was  able  to  make  definite  demands  upon  the  officials  of  the 
National  Government,  a  new  influence  appeared  in  the  govern- 
ment of  China.  This  is  not  the  first  time  that  the  students  have 
taken  a  hand  in  the  government,  for  in  olden  times,  when  the 
Court  conditions  became  so  corrupt  that  they  were  a  national 
scandal,  the  Literati  have  united  and  either  forced  into  retire- 
ment or  have  brought  about  the  death  of  those  who  they  felt 
were  chiefly  responsible  for  the  corruption,  but  it  is  the  first  time 
in  recent  years  that  the  students,  as  such,  have  attempted  to 
influence  the  officials. 

The  Student  Movement  of  1919  really  began  in  1905,  when 
by  imperial  edict  the  old  educational  system  was  abolished  and 
modern  learning  was  adopted.  The  establishment  of  the  modern 
schools  has  of  necessity  been  a  slow  process,  but  their  number 
has  been  rapidly  increasing  in  the  last  few  years  until  now  they 
can  be  found  in  all  parts  of  the  country  and  the  student  body  is 
large  enough  to  exert  a  real  influence.  Prior  to  1912,  although 
the  students  came  in  contact  with  western  ideas,  they  were  taught 
to  be  loyal  to  the  Imperial  Government  and  it  was  only  after  the 
Revolution  of  1911  that  democratic  ideas  came  into  the  schools. 
Democracy  has  appealed  to  the  students  of  China,  and  as  their 
number  has  increased  they  have  been  more  and  more  anxious  to 


GOVERNMENT  87 

see  their  Government  become  more  democratic,  but  they  have 
found  it  difficult  to  bring  the  necessary  pressure  upon  the  officials, 
as  practically  all  of  them  are  men  who  have  held  office  under 
the  Empire  and  whose  attitude  is  therefore  more  imperial  than 
democratic.  Many  of  these  men,  because  of  their  experience 
under  the  Manchu  Government,  have  believed  that  it  is  the  privi- 
lege of  the  officials  to  take  public  funds  for  private  use,  and  while 
under  the  Empire  there  was  a  limit  beyond  which  an  official  could 
not  go  without  danger  of  losing  his  position  and  his  head,  under  the 
Republic  there  has  seemed  to  be  no  limit.  Consequently,  not 
only  have  public  moneys  disappeared,  but  many  of  the  natural 
resources  of  the  country  have  been  sold  directly  or  indirectly, 
and  most  of  the  privileges  have  been  going  into  the  hands  of 
Japan. 

The  students,  seeing  this  official  corruption  and  the  continued 
encroachments  of  Japan,  and  realizing  that  the  officials  because 
of  their  personal  interest  would  do  nothing  to  check  the  weaken- 
ing of  the  country,  have  long  felt  that  they  should  do  something. 
But  until  1919  there  was  no  issue  on  which  they  could  all  unite. 
It  was  the  Shantung  question,  the  acquisition  by  Japan  of  the 
rights  that  Germany  had  had  in  that  province,  that  furnished  the 
cause  that  appealed  to  the  students  all  over  China.  Shantung, 
the  birthplace  of  Confucius,  the  sage  of  China,  is  considered  the 
Holy  Land  of  China.  It  is  one  of  the  rich  provinces  of  the 
country  and  the  Chinese — who  had  experience  with  the  Japanese 
occupation  when,  during  the  war,  they  had  landed  troops  on 
neutral  Chinese  territory,  marched  them  overland  to  the  railroad 
and  established  them  in  Tsinan-fu,  the  capital  of  the  province, 
before  going  east  to  drive  the  Germans  out  of  Tsingtao,  and  also 
with  their  handling  of  "Economic  Rights"  elsewhere  in  China — 
felt  that  they  were  really  losing  the  province,  when  word  came 
from  the  Peace  Conference  at  Versailles  that  the  German  rights 
would  probably  be  given  to  Japan.  Feeling  ran  high  all  over  the 
country  and,  while  the  Chinese  were  greatly  disappointed  in  not 
receiving  the  backing  of  other  countries  in  what  they  felt  was  a 
matter  of  justice,  they  also  felt  that  their  own  officials  were 
largely  responsible  for  the  success  of  the  Japanese.  Three  men, 
Ts'ao  Ju  Lin,  Minister  of  Communications  and  ex-Minister  of 
Finance,  Chang  Chung  Hsiang,  ex-Minister  of  China  to  Japan, 
and  Lu  Cheng  Yu,  Director  of  the  Currency  Bureau,  were  looked 
on  as  the  chief  traitors  and  by  pressure  of  public  opinion  were 
finally  forced  to  resign. 

The  Student  Movement  started  in  Peking,  Sunday,  May  4th, 
1919,  when  a  group  of  some  three  thousand  students  from  the 
various  colleges  attempted  to  present  a  petition  to  the  British  and 
American  'Ministers,  asking  that  the  Peace  Conference  should 


88  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

return  the  German  rights  to  China.  The  Chinese  police  would 
not  allow  them  to  enter  the  Legation  Quarter,  so  the  students 
went  to  the  house  of  Ts'ao  Ju  Lin,  damaged  it  and  attacked 
Chang  Chung  Hsiang,  whom  they  found  on  the  premises.  As 
the  crowd  broke  up,  thirty-three  of  the  students  were  arrested 
and  held  for  three  days  before  being  released  on  bail.  The  Gov- 
ernment was  practically  forced  to  release  them,  as  otherwise 
there  would  have  been  a  clash  between  the  students  and  police 
on  May  7th,  the  anniversary  of  the  presentation,  in  1915,  of  the 
Japanese  ultimatum  concerning  the  Twenty-one  Demands,  and 
if  some  of  the  students  had  been  killed  there  would  in  all  prob- 
ability have  been  a  revolution. 

In  Peking  the  Government  attempted  to  control  the  students 
of  one  of  the  schools  by  putting  a  guard  of  some  two  hundred 
officers  around  the  school  buildings.  The  only  trouble  with  the 
plan  was  that  the  guard  had  to  be  changed  every  four  hours,  or 
the  students  would  have  the  men  converted  to  their  point  of 
view. 

In  K'aifeng,  Honan,  the  officials  tried  to  keep  the  students  in 
two  of  the  schools  from  striking  by  confining  them  in  the  school 
compounds  and  cutting  them  off  from  communication  with  the 
other  students.  To  the  boys  in  one  school  the  girls  sent  a  box 
in  which  was  a  skirt,  with  the  note,  "If  this  is  what  you  need, 
we  have  one  for  each  of  you."  This  was  enough  to  make  them 
join  the  movement,  while  the  others  went  on  strike  after  they  had 
been  talked  to  by  one  of  the  girls  who  dressed  up  as  an  old  lady 
and  gained  admission  to  the  school  compound  by  insisting  that 
she  must  see  her  son. 

Working  with  the  merchants,  the  students  were  able  to 
inaugurate  a  boycott  of  Japanese  goods  that  was  far-reaching 
and  effective,  and  not  only  cut  off  the  supply  of  Japanese  goods 
but  also  worked  to  satisfy  the  demand  with  Chinese-made  goods. 
The  students,  particularly  those  of  the  technical  schools,  learned 
in  their  school  shops  how  to  make  some  articles  and  then  went 
out  and  taught  the  workmen  in  other  shops  how  to  make  them. 
Another  group  of  students  made  themselves  responsible  for  the 
selling  of  the  goods  turned  out  by  the  shops. 

The  Government  attempted  to  break  up  the  student  organiza- 
tions and  stop  the  boycott,  and  finally  in  a  Presidential  Mandate 
issued  on  June  ist  made  its  attitude  so  plain  that  the  Peking 
students  felt  they  could  make  progress  only  by  open  defiance. 
Consequently,  on  June  4th  and  5th,  they  instituted  a  campaign 
of  street  lecturing  by  which  they  attempted  to  tell  the  people 
about  Shantung,  the  Student  Movement  and  the  actions  of  the 
three  men  who  were  looked  on  as  the  chief  traitors.  Wholesale 
arrests  followed  and  in  two  days  over  nine  hundred  students 


GOVERNMENT  89 

were  lodged  in  the  buildings  of  the  Government  Law  School 
that  had  been  turned  into  a  temporary  jail. 

In  connection  with  the  student  demonstrations  in  Shanghai 
the  merchants  organized  a  general  strike,  and  business  in  the 
city  came  to  a  complete  standstill.  The  strike  was  so  complete 
that  even  the  beggars'  and  the  thieves'  gild  joined,  and  there 
was  not  a  single  robbery  in  the  city  for  five  days.  With  the 
strike  spreading  to  other  cities,  the  students  causing  trouble  all 
over  the  country  and  the  sons  of  many  of  the  provincial  authori- 
ties in  jail  in  Peking,  the  pressure  was  too  much  for  the  Govern- 
ment and  it  had  to  yield  to  the  demands  of  the  students,  apologize 
to  them  for  their  arrest,  permit  them  to  lecture  on  the  streets 
and  finally  accept  the  resignations  of  the  three  men  who  were 
looked  upon  as  the  chief  traitors. 

The  students  continued  their  work  after  their  first  victory 
and  by  their  influence  were  able  to  maintain  a  long-continued 
and  thorough-going  boycott  of  Japanese  goods.  Their  demon- 
strations later  in  June  helped  to  encourage  the  Government  in 
its  refusal  to  sign  the  Versailles  Treaty,  while  their  reaction  to 
the  "Foochow  Incident"  in  November,  when  a  group  of  Japanese 
created  a  riot  in  Foochow,  made  it  possible  for  the  Government 
to  take  a  firm  attitude  and  demand  that  Japan  accept  the  respon- 
sibility for  the  occurrence,  which  she  finally  did — after  a  year's 
time,  the  first  time  in  recent  years  that  she  has  admitted  that  her  X 
nationals  have  been  responsible  for  disturbances  in  China. 

By  a  second  and  third  strike  carried  on  early  in  1920,  the 
students  attempted  to  further  force  the  hand  of  the  Government, 
but  they  were  unsuccessful  in  their  demands.  They  did  not 
have  a  strong  public  opinion  behind  them  and  the  officials  were 
able  to  stand  their  ground,  break  the  strike,  and  also  arrest  and 
keep  in  jail  for  several  months  some  of  the  student  leaders  and 
others  who  were  arrested  during  demonstrations  in  connection 
with  the  boycott  of  Japanese  goods. 

Although  the  spectacular  side  of  the  Student  Movement  has 
ceased,  they  are  quietly  working  for  the  development  of  a  more 
enlightened  public  opinion,  and  in  their  search  for  the  system  of 
thought  that  is  best  adapted  to  the  new  conditions  of  Chinese 
life,  they  are  carefully  studying  those  of  other  countries.  The 
ideals  of  the  past  are  gone  and  China  has  yet  to  find  herself  and 
the  place  that  she  is  to  take  in  the  new  life  in  the  Orient,  but 
her  hope  is  in  her  students  with  their  ideals  of  patriotism  and 
service. 

In  order  that  more  and  more  of  the  people  may  be  able  to 
keep  in  touch  with  the  events  of  the  world,  the  students  are 
quietly  pushing  a  campaign  for  the  teaching  of  the  Kuei  Tse  or 
new  alphabet  that  was  adopted  and  promulgated  by  the  National 


90  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

Board  of  Education  in  1918,  thirty-nine  characters  instead  of 
the  many  thousand  different  ideographs,  and  a  system  that  the 
most  ignorant  coolie  can  learn  to  read  in  a  month's  time. 

To  spread  their  new  ideas  and  to  aid  in  the  discussion  of 
philosophy,  economics,  religion  and  social  life  of  other  countries, 
the  students  are  publishing  a  great  many  weekly  and  monthly 
magazines.  Before  June,  1919,  La  Jeunesse  and  The  New 
Education  were  about  the  only  student  magazines,  but  now  there 
are  over  four  hundred  published  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 
Edited  and  supervised  by  men  who  have  had  the  best  training  that 
western  countries  can  afford,  and  written  not  in  a  high  literary 
style  but  in  everyday  language,  these  magazines  are  having  a 
tremendous  influence  upon  the  students  who  will  be  the  future 
leaders  of  the  country. 

When  only  eight  years  of  contact  with  democratic  ideals  can 
produce  a  generation  of  students  who  are  willing  to  meet  the 
military  and  police  forces  unarmed,  rather  than  give  up  their 
patriotic  ideals,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  a  group  of 
leaders  will  develop  who  will  be  able  to  translate  their  patriotism 
into  action  and  gradually  give  China  a  set  of  officials  who  are 
interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  country,  rather  than  in  personal 
gain,  and  that  public  opinion  will  be  enlightened  and  organized 
so  that  it  can  make  itself  felt  on  various  questions  facing  the 
country,  for  when  once  a  united  public  opinion  speaks,  it  must 
be  listened  to  in  China  as  well  as  elsewhere.  The  great  problem 
now  is  to  protect  China  from  foreign  aggression  while  she  is 
working  out,  under  the  leadership  of  her  students,  her  new 
democracy. 


CHAPTER  V 
POPULATION 

An  accurate  census  of  all  the  individuals  of  China  has  been 
an  impossibility  in  the  past.  The  population  of  the  provinces  has 
been  estimated,  or  at  best  the  families  have  been  counted.  The 
total  number  of  persons  in  the  country  has  then  been  found  by 
multiplying  the  number  of  families  by  the  average  number  of 
persons  per  family,  obtained  by  an  intensive  census  of  the  in- 
dividuals of  several  small  districts.  The._MinistTyj^t^^ 
of  the  Empire,  took  such. a  xsensus^p f  the  entire  country  in  igio. 


apparently  did  not  make  a  detailed  study  of  the  people  living  in     ?  ^$ 
the  large  cities  of  the  country.     At  least,  the  figures  of  such  a 


study  have  never  been  published.  Soon  after  the  establishment 
of  the  Republic,  plans  were  drawn  up  for  gathering  information 
on  the  population  of  the  large  cities,  and  the  Department  of  the 
Interior  promulgated  special  rules  for  the  taking  of  the  census 
in  Peking,  the  provincial  capitals,  the  commercial  cities  and 
others  in  which  police  departments  had  been  organized. 

These  rules  make  the  head  of  the  City  Police  Board,  the 
Director  General  of  the  Census  Bureau,  while  the  heads  of  the 
different  police  districts  are  to  be  the  directors  of  the  census 
work  in  their  respective  districts.  A  census  board  is  appointed 
for  each  police  district  of  the  city.  The  members  of  these  are 
the  persons  who  are  really  responsible  for  the  census  work.  The 
number  of  men  on  each  board  is  determined  by  the  Director 
General  and  varies  with  the  amount  of  work  to  be  done.  The 
board  members  are  appointed  by  the  Director  and  receive  a 
salary  for  their  work.  The  census  data  is  gathered  by  a  house 
to  house  investigation  made  for  the  most  part  by  the  police 
officers  of  the  different  police  districts.  As  a  preliminary,  census 
blanks  are  distributed  to  each  store  and  residence  and  the  head 
of  the  hous'e  is  required  to  fill  them  in  as  far  as  possible.  The 
following  questions  are  asked  concerning  each  individual  living 
in  the  house  : 

1.  Nai-aje. 

2.  Sex.  A  Marital  condition,  whether  or  not  they  have  had 

any  children. 


92  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

3.  Age  and  birthday. 

4.  Birth-place. 

5.  Place  of  residence  and  how  long  they  have  lived  there. 

6.  Occupation. 

7.  Religion. 

8.  Education. 

9.  Diseases  and  physical  deformities. 

10.  Number  of  years  in  Peking. 

11.  Other  necessary  information. 

The  individuals  are  grouped  on  the  blank  so  that  those  belonging 
to  the  immediate  family  are  together.  The  relatives  or  friends 
living  in  the  house  are  in  another  group,  and  the  servants  in  a 
third  section. 

The  Census  Reports  are  all  collected  by  the  police  on  a 
given  day.  When  the  officers  call  for  the  blanks,  they  go  over 
them  with  the  householder  and  check  all  the  information  given. 
In  many  cases,  of  course,  the  officers  have  to  fill  out  the  blanks, 
as  many  of  the  people  are  unable  to  write.  The  police  also 
make  a  note  of  any  persons  who  have  been  convicted  of  crime, 
of  any  who  are  looked  upon  as  suspicious  characters,  and  of 
any  house  where  there  are  a  great  many  outsiders  living  with 
the  family. 

The  rules  require  that  the  police  make  a  separate  record  and 
a  separate  study  of  the  people  living  on  boats,  of  monks  living 
in  the  monasteries  and  of  those  living  in  schools,  prisons,  fac- 
tories and  other  public  institutions.  This  study  is  to  be  made 
on  the  same  day  as  the  house  to  house  census. 

The  census  blanks,  when  collected,  are  turned  over  to  the 
different  census  boards.  They  tabulate  the  information  and 
prepare  the  report  for  their  district.  This  gives  the  numbers  of 
the  following: 

i.  Houses. 

2..  Males  and  females. 

3.  Schoolboys  from  6  to  13. 

4.  Young  men  from  20  to  40  years  of  age. 

5.  Those  born  in  Peking  or  in  the  different  Provinces. 

6.  Those  employed  in  gainful  occupations, 

7.  Those  ordinarily  living  in  town  but  away  when  the 

census  was  taken. 

8.  Those  suffering  from  disease  or  physical  deformity. 

9.  Adherents  of  the  different  religions. 

10.  Persons  living  on  ships. 

11.  Monks  in  monasteries. 

12.  Those  in  prisons,  schools,  factories,  etc. 

13.  Miscellaneous  information. 


POPULATION  93 

A  copy  of  this  report  is  sent  to  the  Director  General.  He 
combines  the  figures  of  the  different  districts  into  a  report  for 
the  entire  city.  A  copy  of  this  report  is  filed  with  the  Ministry 
of  the  Interior. 

In  order  that  the  census  records  may  be  kept  up  to  date,  the 
regulations  require  that  all  removals,  deaths,  marriages,  etc.,  shall 
be  reported  to  the  police  within  five  days.  The  police  districts 
must  forward  to  the  Director  General  monthly  reports  of  all 
such  changes. 

The  expenses  of  the  census  are  met  from  the  local  funds,  or 
in  case  of  necessity  from  the  police  funds,  but  only  those  who 
are  especially  appointed  for  the  census  work  receive  any  pay. 
The  taking  of  the  census  is  part  of  the  regular  work  of  the  police 
force,  and  the  officers  detailed  for  such  work  receive  no  extra 
pay.  Reports  of  all  income  and  expense  are  to  be  approved  by 
the  local  authorities  and  then  filed  with  the  Ministry  of  the 
Interior. 

In  the  past,  when  the  officials  have  taken  the  census,  it  has 
been  the  aim  of  many  of  the  people  to  give  a  false  report  for 
their  families.  It  is  an  old  superstition  of  the  Chinese  that  it  is 
very  unlucky  for  them  to  have  anything  pressing  on  their  name. 
Consequently  they  do  not  want  to  have  their  names  written  in  a 
book,  for  when  it  is  closed  the  pressure  of  the  leaves  on  their 
name  will  be  sure  to  bring  them  bad  luck,  and  so  they  have  done 
their  best  to  give  a  wrong  report  to  the  officials.  This  has  been 
particularly  true  in  the  country  districts  where  the  people  have 
but  little  touch  with  the  officials.  In  the  cities,  where  they  are 
used  to  dealing  with  the  police,  the  people  are  more  accustomed 
to  answering  questions,  and  it  is  more  difficult  for  them  to  give 
false  information  without  having  it  discovered.  Even  so,  the 
police  feel  it  necessary  to  send  out  lecturers  who  explain  to  the 
people  why  the  census  is  being  taken  and  urge  them  to  give  the 
correct  information.  Notices  are  also  posted,  forbidding  any 
anti-census  propaganda. 

Any  one  guilty  of  obstructing  the  census  is  punished  with 
from  five  to  thirty  days'  imprisonment  or  with  a  fine  of  from 
$5  to  $30.  Those  who  refuse  to  answer  the  census  questions  or 
who  give  false  answers  are  fined  from  $i  to  $5. 

Some  of  the  people  may  still  attempt  to  give  false  informa- 
tion to  the  police,  but  five  years'  experience  with  the  census  has 
overcome  the  prejudice  of  most  of  them,  and  the  police  are  so 
well  acquainted  with  their  districts  and  in  such  close  touch  with 
the  people  that  they  are  able  to  discover  and  correct  most  of  the 
attempted  mis-statements.  Consequently,  the  Peking  census  can 
be  considered  as  reasonably  correct  and  accurate.  In  the  taking 
of  any  census,  errors  are  bound  to  occur,  and  the  ignorance  and 


94  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

the  superstition  of  the  population  of  a  city  like  Peking  are  sure 
to  increase  the  number  of  errors,  but  personal  experience  with 
the  house  to  house  census  returns  for  a  small  section  of  the 
city  has  convinced  us  that  the  figures  for  Peking  are  well  within 
the  allowable  limits  of  error  and  give  an  accurate  report  of  the 
population  of  the  city. 

The^census  report  for  the  6th  year  of  the  Republic  (19 17) 
^^^P^\n^^pn^r\}^\nr\  ^L^LL^^  It  is  therefore  the  fourth 
city  of  China,  Canton,  Shanghai  and  Hankow  having  larger 
populations.  Of  the  cities  of  the  United  States,  New  York, 
Chicago  and  Philadelphia  are  the  only  ones  that  are  larger  than 
Peking,  while  of  the  capitals  of  the  world,  Peking  ranks  seventh, 
some  six  of  the  European  capitals  reporting  a  population  of  a 
million  or  more. 

The  census  returns  show  that  Peking  is  growing  steadily, 
although  it  is  an  official  and  not  a  business  or  commercial  city. 
The  2nd  year  of  the  Republic  (1913)  the  population  was  727,863. 
In  four  years  there  has  been  an  increase  of  83,693  persons,  or 
11.5  percent  of  the  population  of  I9I3-1  Part  of  this  growth  is 
undoubtedly  due  to  better  census  returns  and  not  to  an  actual 
increase  in  the  inhabitants  of  the  city.  'Many  mistakes  are  cor- 
rected as  the  police  check  over  the  returns  each  year,  and  people 
are  listed  who  were  previously  missed.  Even  allowing  for  that, 
the  figures  show  that  there  is  a  steady  growth. 

As  the  area  of  Peking  is  194  square  li,  or  24.75  square  miles, 
the  average  density  of  population  for  the  entire  city  is  4,289 
persons  per  square  li,  or  33,626  persons  per  square  mile.2  This 
is  from  two  to  four  times  as  dense  as  the  population  in  American 
cities  of  about  the  same  size.2  In  those  cities  it  varies  from 
8,260  per  square  mile  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  to  15,600  per  square 
mile  in  Boston,  Mass.  And  it  must  be  remembered  that  Peking 
is  a  city  of  one-story  houses. 

While  the  average  population  density  for  the  entire  city  is 
33,626  per  square  mile,  there  is,  as  would  be  expected,  a  tre- 
mendous variation  in  the  densities  reported  by  the  different  police 
districts.3  The  three  large  districts  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
South  City  are  given  over  almost  entirely  to  agriculture  and  have 
only  6,209,  n,477  and  18,244  persons  to  the  square  mile.  In  the 
five  districts  in  the  center  of  the  north  part  of  the  South  City, 
just  outside  Ch'ien  Men,  the  main  gate  from  the  North  City, 
there  are  from  72,136  to  83,823  per  square  mile.  These  are  the 
districts  where  most  of  the  business  of  the  city  is  concentrated. 
The  roads  are  narrow,  every  available  lot  has  a  building  on  it, 

1  See  Population  Totals,   5  Year  Table,   in  Appendix. 

*  See  Tables  in  Appendix,  Area  and  Population  of  Peking  and  U.   S.  Cities  and 
Peking  Density  Per  Square  Li. 

*  See  Table  in  Appendix,  Population  by  Police  Districts. 


POPULATION 


95 


POPULATION   DENSITY 
I        I  6,000-12.000  38,000-43,000 

mm  18,000-24,000         KS  49,000-56,000 

28,000-31,000  ggg2  72,000-79,000 

Over  83,800 


Figure  5 

courtyards  are  reduced  to  a  minimum  and  a  large  number  of 
people  live  in  each  house.  America  can  show  much  greater  con- 
gestion in  some  of  her  business  districts  where  the  people  are 
crowded  into  office  buildings  or  factories  during  the  day,  but  they 
return  to  their  homes  at  night.  In  Peking  a  man  usually  lives 
where  he  works,  and  many  of  them  in  the  smaller  shops  set  aside 
their  tools  or  simple  machinery,  and  spread  their  blankets  where 
they  have  been  working  during  the  day. 


96  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

In  the  districts  that  are  largely  residential,  the  density  varies 
from  22,078  to  55,914  persons  per  square  mile,  though  in  the 
most  of  them  it  is  between  30,000  and  40,000. 

Although  the  Peking  census  shows  a  population  density  that 
is  very  much  greater  than  that  of  American  cities  of  the  same 
size,  the  average  number  of  persons  per  house  is  less  in  Peking. 
In  Peking  the  average  is  4.9,  although  for  the  individual  police 
districts  the  number  varies  from  3.8  to  6.1.  In  Philadelphia  the 
average  is  5.2,  while  in  Boston  it  is  9.1.  In  Pittsburg  and  St. 
Louis  the  numbers  are  6.1  and  6.6,  respectively.  The  smaller 
number  for  Peking  is  largely  due  to  a  difference  in  the  size  of 
the  houses  in  the  two  countries.  Peking  is  built  almost  entirely 
on  one  floor,  and  what  in  America  would  be  one  house,  in 
Peking  may  be  three,  four  or  even  more.  Thus,  a  building  con- 
taining five  rooms,  all  of  which  open  on  to  the  same  courtyard, 
is  counted  anywhere  from  one  to  five  houses,  depending  upon 
the  number  of  families  living  in  it.  Most  of  the  rooms  are  10x12 
or  12x12,  a  Chinese  "chien,"  so  in  the  one  room  "house"  the 
people  live  in  very  close  quarters.  In  the  larger  houses,  and 
some  of  them  have  over  100  "chien,"  the  people  are  far  from 
crowded,  but  the  number  of  persons  per  "house"  will  be  large, 
as  the  families  living  in  those  houses  include  many  relatives  and 
servants. 

The  comparison  of  the  1915  census  with  that  of  1917  shows 
that  there  has  been  an  increase  of  8,450  (5  percent)  in  the  number 
of  occupied  houses,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  seven  of  the  districts 
show  a  loss.  The  largest  increase  has  been  in  the  districts  Inside 
Left  2,  3,  and  4.  District  2  shows  an  increase  of  2,353  houses, 
21  percent  of  the  number  reported  in  the  1915  census.  This 
increase  has  made  it  possible  for  that  district  to  have  a  20  percent 
increase  in  population  in  two  years,  without  any  rise  in  the 
average  number  of  persons  per  house.  The  number  of  houses  in 
the  district  Inside  Left  4  has  also  increased  21  percent  in  two 
years,  but  the  population  of  the  district  has  increased  only  13 
percent.  The  average  number  of  persons  per  house  has  conse- 
quently fallen  from  5.1  to  4.8.  In  only  one  district  has  there 
been  an  increase  in  population  and  a  decrease  in  the  number  of 
houses.  That  is  in  Outside  Right  2,  one  of  the  two  districts 
where  there  are  over  83,000  persons  to  the  square  mile.  The 
population  of  that  district  has  increased  3  percent,  the  houses 
have  decreased  2  percent,  and  the  number  of  persons  per  house 
reached  6.1,  the  maximum  for  Peking.  In  only  three  districts, 
Inside  Right  2,  Outside  Left  3,  and  Outside  Right  3,  has  there 
been  an  increase  in  the  number  of  houses  and  an  actual  decrease 
in  the  population.  In  the  outside  districts,  the  change  in  the 
number  of  houses  or  population  has  not  exceeded  3  percent,  but 


POPULATION  97 

in  the  inside  districts  the  population  has  decreased  19  percent  and 
the  number  of  persons  per  house  is  only  3.8,  the  minimum  for 
Peking.1 

There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  building  in  Peking,  especially 
in  the  North  City,  and  in  traveling  around  the  city  one  can  see 
many  of  the  two-man  sawmills  at  work,  sawing  out  boards  and 
timbers.  The  large  squared  logs  are  brought  to  the  site  of  the 
work  and  are  there  cut  by  hand  into  the  required  sizes.  While 
the  carpenters  prepare  the  wood,  the  masons  are  busy  smoothing 
and  preparing  the  brick  and  tile.  The  smoothing  and  any  neces- 
sary shaping  are  also  done  by  hand.  In  the  houses  of  the  poorer 
people,  as  little  wood  as  possible  is  used,  as  it  has  to  be  brought 
long  distances  and  is  expensive,  while  brick  and  tile  are  easily 
made  from  the  clay  that  is  found  near  by,  or  even  from  the  soil 
of  the  surrounding  country.  The  bricks  are  soft,  porous  and 
gray,  as  they  are  not  heated  to  as  high  a  temperature  as  is  usual 
in  America,  and  water  is  thrown  into  the  kiln  as  it  is  cooling. 

RACE 

When  China  deposed  the  Manchu  Emperor,  she  discarded  the 
old  Dragon  flag  and,  with  the  establishment  of  the  Republic, 
adopted  one  with  five  bars,  symbolic  of  the  five  groups  that  make 
up  the  population  of  the  country.  Four  of  these,  the  Chinese, 
the  Manchus,  the  Mongols  and  the  Tibetans,  are  racial  groups, 
while  the  fifth,  the  Mohammedans,  are  a  religious  group  set 
apart  from  the  rest  of  the  population  by  the  tenets  of  their  faith. 
Representatives  of  all  five  groups  are  found  in  Peking.  It  is 
known  they  vary  greatly  in  number,  but  the  exact  figures  cannot 
be  given,  as  race  is  not  one  of  the  questions  asked  by  the 
census. 

The  Chinese,  of  course,  predominate,  but  as  the  Emperor  was 
a  Manchu  and  used  his  Nationals  as  retainers  and  soldiers,  there 
are  a  large  number  of  Manchus  in  the  city.    Although  the  exact 
number  of  Manchus  cannot  be  determined,  one  of  the  officials        ,  / 
stated  that  there  are  5,000,000  "Ch'i  Jen"  or  Manchu  Bannermen  f/<-tf 
in  China  and  that  of  these'rSo,ooo  are  in  or  around  Peking.    They   " 
and  their  families  undoubtedly  make  the  total  of  _MajicJms_jn 
Peking  and  vicinity  well  over3OOLoog^ 

"^UnHeT" the" "Empire, ~  alPManchu  men  owed  the  Government 
military  service.  Those  who  lived  in  and~arotmd  Peking  were 
allowed  to  do  nothing  but  work  for  the  army.  They  could  not 
own  land,  they  could  not  learn  a  trade,,  and  had  to  depend  upon 
a  state  pension  for  their  livelihood.  Since  the  establishment  of 
the  Republic,  this  pension  has  been  greatly  decreased  or  entirely 

1  For  complete  details  see  tables  in  Appendix. 


98  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

cut  off,  and  the  men  have  been  forced  to  attempt  to  earn  .-a  live- 
lihood. They  have  been  unfitted  and  untrained  for  any  economic 
life  and  have  been  very  conscious  of  their  position  as  one  of  the 
ruling  race,  so  many  of  them  have  held  out  against  the  change  as 
long  as  possible  and  have  been  willing  to  sell  the  tiles  from  the 
floor  of  their  house  before  they  would  go  to  work.  Some  have 
made  an  attempt  at  self-support  and  found  the  struggle  too  keen 
jfor  them  with  their  poor  equipment.  Only  a  few  have  been  able 
to  succeed  in  spite  of  the  keen  competition.  In  fact,  practically 
all  of  the  Manchu  families  have  had  to  adapt  themselves  to  a 
standard  of  living  that  is  lower  than  that  they  had  under  the 
Empire,  and  poverty  and  destitution  have  come  to  so  many  of 
them  that  they  constitute  one  of  the  big  social  problems  of  the 
City. 

The  casual  observer  finds  it  almost  impossible  to  tell  whether 
a  man  is  a  Manchu  or  a  Chinese,  but  the  women  are  easily  distin- 
guished. The  Manchu  women  wear  a  long  gown,  similar  to  that 
of  the  Chinese  men,  while  the  Chinese  women  wear  trousers  and 
a  short  coat.  On  some  occasions,  the  Manchu  women  wear  a 
high  black  satin  head-dress  trimmed  with  artificial  flowers  and 
small  shiny  beads,  and  they  paint  and  powder  their  faces.  The 
Chinese  women  ordinarily  wear  nothing  on  their  heads.  In  the 
past  the  Chinese  women  all  had  small  feet,  but  now  more  and 
more  of  them  have  large  feet,  as  the  custom  of  foot-binding  is 
disappearing,  rapidly  in  the  cities,  more  slowly  in  the  country 
districts.  The  Manchu  women  have  never  bound  their  feet. 
Although  the  Manchus  maintain  certain  distinctive  racial  cus- 
toms, such  as  their  bow  and  their  wedding  and  funeral  cere- 
monies, in  the  ordinary  life  of  the  city  they  seem  to  be  on  an 
equal  footing  with  the  more  numerous  Chinese. 

The  Mongols  are  a  comparatively  small  group,  while  of  the 
Tibetans  there  are  probably  less  than  1,000  in  the  city. 

The  Mohammedans  have  been  fairly  numerous  in  Peking 
ever  since  one  of  their  faith  was  married  by  the  Emperor  and 
was  allowed  to  build  a  mosque  near  the  palace  and  have  a  troop 
of  Mohammedan  soldiers  as  her  body-guard.  As  they  are  un- 
willing to  eat  with  those  who  are  not  of  their  faith,  their  religion 
is  something  of  a  barrier  to  social  relationship,  but  it  does  not 
seem  to  interfere  with  business  or  to  keep  them  from  official 
position.  One  of  the  Mullahs-estimated  -that  there  were  25,000 
Mohammedans  in  Peking  in  1919^  The  police  census  of  1917 
gave  the  total ^8^23,5247  Tn  outward  appearance  they  are  not 
different  from  the  Te~sT""ol  the  population,  but  are  separated  by 
their  religion. 

In  the  northeast  part  of  the  North  City,  there  is  still  another 
group  who  are  Chinese  in  appearance,  but  who  claim  to  be 


POPULATION  99 

descendants  of  a  group  of  Russians  brought  to  Peking  after  the 
capture  of  Albazin  on  the  Amur  in  1685. 

In  general,  the  population  of  the  city  is  probably  divided 
somewhat  as  follows; 

Chinese    70-75%   / 

Manchu    20-25% 

Mohammedan    3% 

Mongol     1-2% 

Others    0.5% 


SEX 

The  figures  giving  the  sex  and  age  and  sex  distribution  of 
the  Peking  population  are  the  most  remarkable  of  the  census 
statistics.    Those  for  the  sex  distribution  (see  Appendix)  show  f 
that  of  the  811,556  persons  in  Peking,  515,535  are  males  and/ 
296,021  are  females.    That  is,  63.5  percent  of  the  population  arej 
males  and^there  are  174  males  lb"ev~eTy~Tpo"fernales  in  the  city. ! 
In  Tokio,  wTTich  Ts~~srlaTge7  rapidly  growing  oriental  city,  there 
are  only  114  males  per  100  females,  while  in  the  American  cities 
of  500,000  and  over,  the  number  of  males  per  100  females  varies 
from  96  in  Philadelphia  to  107  in  Chicago.     Peking  has  a  great 
preponderance  of  males,  compared  with  cities  of  about  the  same 
size  in  other  countries,  and  probably  as  compared  with  the  other 
large  cities  in  China,  though  unfortunately  the  figures  for  such 
a  comparison  are  not  available. 

The  figures  for  the  different  police  districts  given  in  the  first 
population  table  in  the  Appendix  show  that  the  males  constitute 
from  49.2  to  77.2  percent  of  the  population  of  each  district 
and  that  the  number  of  males  per  100  females  varies  from  97  to 
339.  The  proportion  of  men  is  highest  in  the  industrial  districts, 
for  in  four  of  the  five  districts  in  the  South  City,  where  the 
population  is  over  72,000  per  square  mile,  and  where  much  of 
the  business  of  the  city  is  concentrated,  the  males  constitute  over 
72  percent  of  the  population.  In  the  fifth  of  these  crowded  dis- 
tricts 63.5  percent  of  the  people  are  males.  In  the  districts  that 
are  largely  residential,  the  percentage  of  males  varies  from  49.2 
to  66.5  percent.  Apparently  the  larger  the  proportion  of  resi- 
dences in  a  district,  the  smaller  its  percentage  of  males.  This  is 
but  natural,  as  industry  is  not  open  to  women  and  most  of  the 
men  live  where  they  work.  Even  if  a  man's  family  is  in  Peking, 
he  finds  it  hard  to  live  with  them  if  he  is  engaged  in  industrial 
work,  for  the  hours  of  work  are  long,  the  distances  between  his 
home  and  his  work  are  often  great,  and  the  ricksha,  the  only 
means  of  transportation,  is  too  expensive  for  the  use  of  the 
ordinary  worker.  Consequently,  any  man  coming  to  the  city  for 


100 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


NUMBER  OF  MALES  PER  100  FEMALES 

j 1  97  VZfib  170-176 

mm  127-139  188-199 

^^  151-161  VM&  259 

^^  302-339 

Figure  6 

work  would  naturally  leave  his  wife  with  his  parents.  He  could 
support  her  with  his  wages,  but  as  she  would  have  to  live  alone 
most  of  the  time  it  is  better  for  her  to  be  with  his  family  where 
she  can  help  with  the  work  of  the  house,  or,  if  in  the  country, 
with  the  work  on  the  farm. 

The  relationship  between  industry  and  the  high  proportion  of 
men  in  the  population  is  confirmed  by  two  detailed  studies,  one 
of  a  group  of  families  belonging  to  three  of  the  Protestant 


POPULATION  101 

churches,  the  other  of  the  census  figures  for  every  house  in  a 
small  district  in  the  North  City.  In  the  study  of  the  district,  it 
was  found  that  on  the  streets  where  the  proportion  of  shops  is 
high  the  men  constitute  from  80  to  100  percent  of  the  population, 
while  on  those  streets  where  the  residences  predominate  the 
percentage  of  men  varies  from  49  to  60.  In  the  study  of  the 
church  families,  where  the  selection  was  made  entirely  on  the 
family  basis,  it  was  found  that  the  males  and  females  were  almost 
equal.  There  were  only  108  males  for  every  100  females,  or  52 
percent  of  the  group  were  males  and  48  percent  females. 

From  these  figures,  it  would  seem  that  the  industrial  situation 
is  responsible  for  the  large  preponderance  of  males,  but,  while 
it  is  probably  the  largest  factor,  our  observations  have  shown 
that  the  political  and  educational  life  of  the  city  also  tend  to 
increase  the  proportion  of  males. 

The  number  of  students  coming  to  the  city  is  increasing  every 
year.  A  very  considerable  proportion  of  these  are  married,  and 
it  is  but  natural  that  they  should  leave  their  families  at  home. 
They  are  unable  to  earn  during  the  years  they  are  at  school,  and 
so  have  to  look  to  their  parents  for  support  for  themselves  and 
their  families.  The  parents  nearly  always  want  the  daughter-in- 
law  to  live  with  them  rather  than  in  the  city  with  her  husband, 
because  of  the  help  that  she  can  give  them. 

A  man  seeking  political  position  finds  it  almost  necessary  to 
come  alone,  as,  first  of  all,  the  chances  that  he  will  secure  the 
coveted  office  are  very  small.  One  of  the  officials  estimated  that 
there  were  from  100,000  to  125,000  "expectant  officials"  in  the 
city,  while  the  actual  number  of  official  positions  was  between 
5,000  and  6,000.  And,  secondly,  the  cost  of  bringing  his  family 
to  Peking  before  he  is  sure  of  an  appointment  is  almost  pro- 
hibitive, particularly  if  he  comes  from  one  of  the  more  distant 
provinces.  Any  money  a  man  has  must  go  for  his  own  support 
and  toward  securing  the  favor  of  those  who  have  the  appointive 
power. 

A  distinctive  feature  of  the  Chinese  method  of  securing 
either  industrial  or  political  work  is  that  a  man  never  applies 
directly  for  a  position.  He  must  always  find  some  friend  who 
will  recommend  him  and  more  or  less  stand  as  sponsor  for  him, 
and  before  he  can  get  an  industrial  position  he  must  find  some 
one  who  will  act  as  his  guarantor. 

Another  reason  why  a  man  does  not  bring  his  family  with 
him  may  be  that  his  wife  is  chosen  for  him  by  his  parents,  and 
he  is  perhaps  not  as  anxious  to  have  her  with  him  as  he  would  be 
if  he  had  chosen  her  himself. 

The  family  situation  is  further  complicated  by  the  fact  that 
the  men  away  from  home  seldom  visit  their  families.  In  a  study 


102  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

of  4,000  married  men,  Dr.  W.  G.  Lennox,  of  the  Union  Medical 
College  of  Peking,  found  that  for  those  whose  homes  were  outside 
the  city  the  average  length  of  time  the  men  had  been  away  from 
their  families  was  18  months. 

Single  women  do  not  come  to  Peking  in  any  large  numbers. 
Political  life  is  not  open  to  them,  they  find  little  if  any  place  in 
industry,  and  their  educational  opportunities  are  much  more  lim- 
ited than  those  of  the  men.  Chinese  custom  is  quite  strict  in 
insisting  that  no  women  travel,  unless  accompanied  by  their 
families. 

As  a  result  of  the  large  excess  of  males  in  the  city,  Peking 
is  facing  the  serious  social  problems  that  always  arise  when  a 
large  number  of  men  are  brought  together  without  the  oppor- 
tunity of  associating  with  women,  and  where  the  home  ties  of 
so  many  are  broken  for  so  long  a  time. 

AGE 

In  the  ages  of  its  inhabitants,  Peking  differs  from  the  Ameri- 
can cities  of  the  same  size,  in  that  it  has  a  very  much  smaller 
proportion  of  those  who  are  under  15,  and  a  larger  proportion 
who  are  between  25  and  50.  From  the  accompanying  charts  and 
from  figures  given  in  tables  in  the  Appendix  that  show  by  five- 
year  periods  the  age  distribution  of  the  population  of  Peking  and 
four  American  cities,  it  will  be  seen  that  between  the  "under  5" 
group  and  the  10-14  year  group  there  is  a  very  decided  decrease  in 
the  proportion  of  the  population  in  the  different  age  groups  in  the 
American  cities,  but  that  in  Peking  there  is  an  increase  rather 
than  a  decrease.  From  the  10-14  to  the  20-24  7ear  group,  there 
is  a  very  rapid  increase  in  Peking  and  the  American  cities,  but 
the  increase  is  greater  in  Peking.  In  the  American  cities  the 
20-24  year  group  contains  the  maximum  number  of  persons, 
while  in  Peking  the  largest  proportion  is  found  in  the  25-29  year 
group.  After  the  maximum  has  been  passed,  the  number  in  the 
different  age  groups  decreases  rapidly.  The  rate  of  decrease  is 
almost  identical  for  the  American  cities,  but  for  Peking  the  rate 
is  slower  for  the  30-34  and  the  35-39  year  groups  and  then  more 
rapid  until  the  50-54  year  group  is  reached.  From  then  on,  the 
proportion  of  the  population  in  the  different  age  groups  is  prac- 
tically the  same  in  Peking,  the  American  cities  and  the  entire 
population  of  the  United  States. 

From  the  curves,  it  is  evident  that  the  sharp  increase  that 
comes  in  the  15-19  and  20-24  Year  groups  in  the  American  cities 
and  from  the  "under  5"  group  to  the  25-29  year  group  in 
Peking  is  the  result  of  immigration.  Such  large  groups  of  young 
people  come  into  the  cities  for  education  and  for  work  that  the 


POPULATION 


103 


EntireU.sX 


rPhiladelphia 


.    5    10JL5^g^5  30  35  40  45  50  55  60  65  7015  SO-i- 
"5  "9  T4  19  24  29  34  39  44  49  54  59  64  69  74  79 
AGES 

Figure  7:     Peking  and  American  Cities:   Population.     Percent  in  Five- 

Year  Age  Groups 

ordinary  decrease  due  to  death  is  more  than  overcome.  But  few 
people  come  to  live  in  the  city  after  they  are  25  or  30  years  of 
age,  and  emigration  and  the  increasing  death  rate  bring  about  a 
steady  decrease  in  the  numbers  of  those  in  the  older  age  groups. 

From  the  shape  of  the  curve  for  the  population  of  Peking,  it 
is  quite  evident  that  a  large  number  of  young  children  have  been 
missed  in  taking  the  census.  The  accompanying  chart  (Church 
Families)  gives  the  age  distribution  of  the  members  of  325 
Peking  families.  In  it,  there  is  a  decrease  from  the  1-5  year 
group  to  the  11-15  Year  grouP>  and  then  a  rapid  increase  in  the 
16-20  year  group.  While  the  increase  and  decrease  are  more 
extreme  than  in  the  American  cities,  the  shape  of  the  curve  is 
very  much  the  same  and  seems  to  be  characteristic  of  a  city 
population. 

The  figures  for  the  325  families  are  probably  correct  for  the 
small  group,  as  all  of  the  families  belonged  to  a  Protestant 
church,  had  had  some  experience  with  foreigners  and  would  be 
willing  to  give  an  accurate  report,  as  they  knew  the  information 


104 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


111621263186^46^15661667176  81* 
5   10   15  20  25   30  35  40  45  50  55   60  65  70   75  80 
AGES 

Figure  8:     Peking  Church  Families.     Percent  in  Five- Year  Age  Groups 

was  for  church  use.  Complete  figures  for  Peking  would  prob- 
ably not  raise  the  curve  for  the  younger  groups  as  high  as  in  the 
American  cities,  but  would  probably  show  the  characteristic 
decrease  from  the  1-5  group  to  the  11-15  vear  grouP  and  then  a 
rapid  increase.  The  police  themselves  admitted  that  they  found 
it  hard  to  get  an  accurate  report  of  the  children,  particularly  the 
very  young  ones.  A  questionnaire  answered  by  Chinese  in  all 
parts  of  the  country  showed  that  a  great  many  think  that  a  child 
has  no  soul  until  it  is  some  three  years  old,  and  so  they  would 
not  think  it  important  to  list  it  as  one  of  the  members  of  the 
family.  It  will  be  noticed  that,  for  the  American  cities,  the  ages 
are  given  as,  under  5,  5-9,  10-14,  while  for  Peking  they  are  1-5, 
6-10,  11-15.  The  difference  is  apparent  rather  than  real,  as  a 
Chinese  child  is  said  to  be  one  year  old  at  birth  and  is  two  years 
old  on  the  next  Chinese  New  Year.  Rather  than  make  any  change 
in  the  tables,  the  two  standards  have  been  used. 


POPULATION 


105 


40.000 


30,000 


20,000 


10,000 


Male      329,703 
Female  340,882 

Total     670,585 


Female 


_ 

"6    9    14  19  24  29  34  39  44  49  54  59  64  69  74  79 
AGES 

Figure  9:     Boston   Population:   Age  and   Sex.     Number  in  Five- Year 

Age  Groups 


AGE  AND  SEX 

The  charts  and  figures  (see  tables  in  Appendix)  for  the  age 
groups  of  the  sexes  in  Boston  and  Philadelphia  show  that  the 
males  and  females  in  the  different  age  groups  are  almost  equal 
and  increase  and  decrease  at  practically  the  same  rate.  This  is 
not  true  of  Peking.  In  that  city  the  males  greatly  predominate — 
174  males  to  every  100  females — and  the  rate  of  increase  and 
decrease  is  much  larger  for  the  males  than  for  the  females. 
The  largest  number  of  females  is  in  the  35-40  year  age  group. 
The  proportion  of  males  increases  from  59  percent  in  the  1-5 
year  group  to  69  percent  in  the  26-30  year  group,  and  then  de- 
creases until  only  54  percent  of  those  over  80  years  of  age  are 
males.  The  increase  and  decrease  are  continuous,  except  in  the 
36-40  year  group,  when  the  very  decided  peak  for  the  females 
reduces  the  percentage  of  males  to  62,  but  in  the  next  age  group, 
41-45,  the  percentage  returns  to  68  and  then  continuously  declines 
to  54- 

It  is  but  natural  that  the  men  who  come  to  the  city  for  an 
education,  for  industrial  work  or  seeking  political  position, 
should  be  young,  and,  as  the  influences  of  the  city  are  such  that 
most  of  the  men  come  without  their  families,  the  rapid  increase 
in  the  proportion  of  men  would  naturally  be  expected.  The  rapid 
decrease  in  the  proportion  of  men  who  are  in  the  age  groups 
over  30  is  likewise  to  be  expected,  as  a  large  number  of  those 
who  have  completed  their  education,  have  secured  their  business 
training,  or  have  failed  in  their  search  for  political  office,  will 


106 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


80,000 


10.000 


-K    J*     10  15    20    25    30    35    40   45    50  J5   JO    65    70    75    80-*- 
*     9     14   19    24    29    34    39   44    49    54    59    64    69    74    79 
AGES 

Figure  10 :    Philadelphia  Population :  Age  and  Sex.    Number  in  Five-Year 

Age  Groups 

return  to  their  homes.  Studies  in  America  have  shown  that  the 
death  rate  for  men  living  alone  is  higher  than  for  those  living 
with  their  families,  and  the  same  is  undoubtedly  true  in  China. 

It  is  rather  striking  to  find  in  the  36-40  year  group  a  very 
sharp  peak  in  the  graph  for  the  age  distribution  of  the  women, 
particularly  when  the  maximum  number  of  males  was  found  in 
the  group  ten  years  younger,  26-30.  There  are  3,875  more 
women  in  the  36-40  year  group  than  in  the  31-35  year  group,  and 
10,691  more  in  the  36-40  year  group  than  in  the  41-45  year 
group.  Just  what  it  is  that  makes  this  sharp  peak  it  is  impossible 
to  say,  but  apparently  a  number  of  influences  are  at  work.  In 
the  first  place,  the  men  who  have  made  a  success  in  the  city  will 
be  able  to  have  their  families  with  them  by  the  time  they  are 
about  35,  and  by  the  time  a  man  is  35  his  parents  are  very  apt  to 


POPULATION 


107 


70,000 


€0,000 


60,000 


40,000 


30,000 


20,000 


10,000 


1    l_ill§21263136414651566166717681* 
5    10  15  20  25  30  35   40  45  50  55  60  65  70  75   80 
AGES 


Figure  n:     Peking  Population:  Age  and   Sex. 

Age  Groups 


Number  in  Five-Year 


have  died,  his  home  will  have  been  broken  up,  and  instead  of  his 
being  under  the  control  of  his  father — and  in  China  that  is  a 
very  real  control — he  himself  will  be  the  head  of  a  house.  He 
will  then  naturally  want  to  have  his  wife  with  him  and  establish 
his  home  in  the  city.  In  America  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that 
many  women  dislike  to  say  they  are  over  40.  It  is  hardly  con- 
ceivable that  there  would  be  any  such  tendency  on  the  part  of 
the  Chinese  women,  as  a  woman  over  40  in  China  is  known  as 
"Lao  T'ai  T'ai,"  or  Old  Lady,  and  ordinarily  receives  the  added 
veneration  that  the  Chinese  give  to  old  age,  but  there  seems  to  be 
some  special  influence  that  has  kept  in  the  younger  age  group  a 
large  number  of  those  who  are  actually  over  40. 

Peking  is  so  evidently  a  city  maintained  by  the  immigration 
of  young  people,  a  large  proportion  of  whom  are  males ;  it  is  so 
•much  the  educational  and  political  center  of  the  country  and 
there  are  so  many  people  who  come  to  the  city  for  a  few  years 


108 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


5    10    IS    20    25    30    35    40    45    50    55    60    65    70    75    80 
AGES 

Figure  12 :    Peking  Church  Families  :  Age  and  Sex.    Number  in  Five- Year 

Age  Groups 

and  then  return  home  that  it  is  a  very  strategic  center  for  any 
social  work,  which,  as  far  as  the  foreigners  are  concerned,  must 
really  be  in  the  nature  of  a  demonstration.  Not  only  can  much 
be  done  to  help  the  people  of  the  city,  but  much  can  be  done 
toward  solving  the  problems  presented  by  the  city,  particularly 
those  of  the  young  men  away  from  home,  many  of  whom  are 
meeting  city  life  for  the  first  time,  and  the  other  parts  of  the 
country  can  be  influenced,  as  so  many  return  to  their  homes  after 
a  few  years'  experience  in  Peking.  Furthermore,  China  is  now 
making  her  first  experiments  with  new  types  of  social  work  and 
it  is  possible  to  influence  the  whole  future  policy  of  the  country 
by  work  done  in  Peking.  The  young  men,  particularly  the  stu- 
dents, will  be  the  future  leaders  of  the  country,  and  if  they  can 


POPULATION  109 

be  given  a  practical  demonstration  of  social  work  at  its  best, 
China  can  be  saved  many  of  the  mistakes  and  much  of  the 
expensive  experience  of  the  western  countries. 

MARITAL   CONDITION 

In  reporting  the  marital  condition  of  the  population,  the 
police  have  prepared  a  table  that  gives  the  total  number  of 
married  and  single  persons  in  the  entire  city,  the  number  in  each 
of  the  20  police  districts,  and  the  figures  for  the  males  who  are 
over  and  under  30  years  of  age  and  for  the  females  who  are 
over  and  under  20.  The  figures  in  these  last  divisions,  however, 
are  manifestly  incorrect,  as  the  totals  of  the  groups  do  not  equal 
those  given  by  the  table  showing  the  ages  of  the  population. 
More  males  are  given  as  under  30  by  the  Marital  Table  than  by 
the  Age  Table,  but  the  number  is  less  than  the  number  under  35. 
The  number  of  females  included  by  the  heading  "under  20"  is 
but  little  less  than  the  number  the  Age  Table  shows  to  be  under 
35.  Because  of  these  errors  but  little  information  can  be  drawn 
from  the  tables. 

The  table  gives  these  figures : 

Married  Single    Per  Cent  Married 

Males  274,925  240,610  S3 

Females    i7r,32i  124,700  58 

Total 446,246  365,310  55 

Males  over  30 158,798  85,592  65 

Males  under  30 116,127  155,018  43 

Total 274,925  240,610  53 

Females  over  20 119,645  43,5o6  73 

Females  under  20  51,676  81,194  49 


Total 171,321  124,700  58 

A  detailed  study  of  over  1,200  persons  showed  49  percent  of 
all  the  males  as  married  and  60  percent  of  the  females.  The 
figures  for  the  United  States  are :  Males  42  percent,  and  females 
47  percent. 

If  the  figures  of  the  table  could  be  taken  to  show  approxi- 
mately the  marital  condition  of  the  males  and  females  over  and 
under  30  years  of  age,  35  percent  of  the  males  over  30  would  be 
single  and  27  percent  of  the  females.  Of  those  under  30  years 
of  age,  57  percent  of  the  males  would  be  single  and  61  percent 
of  the  females.  These  figures,  however,  are  undoubtedly  far 
from  correct.  In  our  detailed  study,  only  28  percent  of  the  males 
and  16  percent  of  the  females  over  16  years  of  age  were  single; 
of  those  over  25  years  of  age,  only  9  percent  of  the  males  and  I 


110  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

percent  of  the  females  were  still  single,  while  of  those  over  30 
years  of  age,  7  percent  of  the  males  and  0.5  percent  of  the 
females  were  unmarried. 

In  the  American  cities  that  are  of  the  same  size  as  Peking, 
from  38.3  to  44.9  percent  of  the  males  over  15  years  of  age  are 
single  and  from  30.3  to  40  percent  of  the  females. 

In  a  study  of  4,000  married  men,  Dr.  W.  G.  Lennox,  of  the 
Union  Medical  College  of  Peking,  found  that  the  average  age  at 
marriage  was  20.5  years,  and  that  the  greatest  number  were 
married  when  they  were  19. 

The  marital  condition  of  the  population  of  Peking  and  the 
American  cities  cannot  be  accurately  compared  from  the  figures 
in  hand,  but  it  is  very  evident  that  those  who  are  married  con- 
stitute a  much  larger  proportion  of  the  population  of  Peking 
than  in  the  American  cities,  and  that  the  Chinese  marry  at  a 
younger  age  than  do  the  Americans.  Family  wishes  and  eco- 
nomic pressure  are  the  two  factors  that  cause  such  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  Chinese  to  marry,  and  to  marry  at  an  earlier  age 
than  do  the  Americans.  The  Chinese  want  to  see  their  sons 
married,  as  the  daughter-in-law  will  be  able  to  do  a  great  deal 
of  the  work  of  the  household  and  because  grandsons  are  one  of 
the  great  desires  of  every  Chinese.  They  are  anxious  to  see  their 
daughters  married  so  that  the  burden  of  their  support  may  fall 
on  some  other  family. 

The  boys  have  ordinarily  completed  their  trade  or  business 
apprenticeship  and  are  earning  fair  wages  by  the  time  they  are 
eighteen,  so  it  is  but  natural  that  their  families  should  find  a 
bride  for  them  at  that  time,  even  though  the  boy's  earnings  are 
not  enough  to  pay  for  her  support.  The  family  is  willing  to 
support  her  for  the  help  that  she  can  give  in  the  work  of  the 
house.  In  many  cases,  necessity  requires  the  boy  to  live  in  the 
store  where  he  works,  but  even  so  he  must  be  married  and  his 
wife  live  with  his  parents.  The  family  system  is  strong  in  China, 
and  the  desires  of  the  family  are  almost  always  put  ahead  of  the 
wishes  of  the  individual. 


FOREIGN    POPULATION 

Peking  has  never  been  definitely  opened  to  the  trade  of  the 
world  as  a  treaty  port,  even  though  it  is  the  capital  of  the  country 
and  the  representatives  of  the  foreign  governments  have  been 
allowed  to  live  in  the  city  for  over  60  years.  The  fact  that 
Peking  is  the  capital  has  made  the  Chinese  unwilling  to  make  the 
city  a  treaty  port,  and  the  foreigners  have  not  found  it  necessary 
to  force  them  to  open  it,  as  Tientsin  is  only  84  miles  away. 
Consequently,  foreigners  who  are  not  members  of  the  Diplo- 


POPULATION  111 

matic  Corps,  the  Customs  Service,  the  Missions,  or  teachers  in  a 
school  or  college,  are  allowed  to  live  and  do  business  outside  of 
the  Legation  Quarter  only  because  of  the  toleration  of  the 
Chinese  officials  and  not  because  of  any  treaty  rights.  Even  so, 
there  are  1,524  persons  living  outside  of  the  Legation  Quarter 
and  116  foreign  firms  are  doing  business  outside  of  that  district. 

There  are  no  figures  available  that  give  the  number  of  for- 
eigners residing  in  the  Legation  Quarter,  or  the  number  of  firms 
doing  business  in  that  district.  The  Diplomatic  Corps  controls 
the  Legation  Quarter  and  has  never  taken  a  census  of  those  living 
inside  its  walls.  Each  legation  keeps  track  of  its  own  nationals 
living  in  Peking,  whether  they  live  in  the  Legation  Quarter  or  in 
the  city  proper,  but  it  has  been  impossible  to  obtain  their  figures. 
It  is  known,  however,  that  the  strength  of  the  American  Legation 
Guard,  a  detachment  of  the  U.  S.  Marine  Corps,  is  ordinarily 
about  300  men,  and  that  the  number  of  Americans  who  might 
contribute  to  the  American  Liberty  Loan  was  well  over  500.  It 
is  also  known  that  the  Americans  are  the  largest  group  of  for- 
eigners in  Peking,  next  to  the  Japanese. 

Of  the  1,524  persons  living  outside  of  the  Legation  Quarter, 
929  are  Caucasians  and  595  Japanese.  They  are  divided  among 
the  different  nationalities  as  follows : 

FOREIGNERS 
Police  Census  1917 

PERCENT 
NATIONALITY  MALE  FEMALE  TOTAL  MALE 

American    173  108  281  62 

Austrian    6  I  7  86 

Belgian    30  8  38  79 

Dane    n  13  24  46 

Dutch    3  3  6  50 

English    142  88  230  62 

French    99  32  131  75 

German   102  50  152  67 

Italian    6  2  8  75 

Japanese   428  167  595  72 

Mexican    3  2  5  60 

Norwegian   2  3  5  40 

Portuguese 3  I  4  75 

Russian   9  6  15  60 

Spanish    2  I  3  66 

Swedish    8  6  14  57 

Swiss    i  i  2  50 

No  data 3  i  4 

Total 1,031  493  1,524  67.8 

It  will  be  noticed  that  68  percent  of  the  foreign  population  are 
males  and  that  there  are  209  males  to  every  100  females.  Of  the 
Japanese  72  percent  are  males,  and  of  the  Caucasians  65  percent. 


112  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

The  males  predominate  in  the  foreign  population  even  more  than 
they  do  in  the  Chinese  population. 

Since  Peking  is  not  a  treaty  port,  foreigners  are  not  free  to 
own  land  in  the  city,  and  those  who  do  not  belong  to  the  Diplo- 
matic Corps,  Customs  Service,  or  to  one  of  the  Missions,  must 
live  in  rented  houses.  All  renting  contracts  must  be  approved  by 
the  police,  according  to  their  rules.  Such  contracts  are  limited 
to  a  period  of  three  years,  but  are  renewable  provided  the  police 
approve.  The  police  rules  provide  that  renting  contracts  may 
be  canceled  by  the  owner  in  case  he  mortgages  or  sells  the  prop- 
erty, provided  he  gives  the  tenant  three  months'  notice,  or  by  the 
tenant  after  one  month's  notice,  provided  he  is  leaving  the  city. 

As  the  police  must  approve  all  renting  contracts,  they  are  able 
to  limit  the  districts  in  which  the  foreigners  are  allowed  to  live. 
Consequently,  1,004  (66  percent)  of  the  1,524  foreigners  are 
living  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  North  City  in  Police  District 
Inside  Left  I,  while  the  districts  Inside  Left  I  and  2  contain  78 
percent  of  the  foreigners.  There  are  178  living  on  the  west  side 
of  the  North  City  and  only  71  in  the  South  City.  It  is  only 
recently  that  foreigners  have  been  allowed  in  the  West  City,  and 
even  now  the  police  practically  refuse  to  allow  any  foreigners  to 
live  in  the  South  City.  They  say  that  they  must  see  that  all 
foreigners  are  protected  in  case  of  any  trouble,  and  to  give  them 
adequate  protection  in  the  South  City  would  take  a  larger  body 
of  men  than  could  well  be  spared. 

The  records  of  the  Protestant  Missionary  Societies  show  that 
they  had,  in  1919,  348  representatives  in  Peking.  The  following 
table  from  the  police  census  gives  a  rough  classification  of  the 
occupations  of  the  foreigners : 

OCCUPATION  OF  FOREIGNERS 
1917 

MALE  FEMALE  TOTAL 

Agriculture  and  Forestry  2  i  3 

Commerce   274  28  302 

Communications    42  —  42 

Consul    84  II  95 

Doctor    40  22  62 

Lawyer  2  • —  2 

Mining   13  3  16 

Mechanic    84  8  92 

Preacher    55  47  102 

Prostitute 2  39  41 

Students   62  3  65 

Teachers    47  23  70 

Others    142  81  223 

No  Data 182  227  309 

Total..  1,031  493 


POPULATION  113 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  language  barrier  isolates  from 
the  Chinese  many  of  the  foreigners  who  are  in  Peking  for  business 
or  are  connected  with  the  legations  and  prevents  them  having 
any  appreciable  influence  on  the  life  of  the  city.  To  learn  Chinese 
is  a  long  and  tedious  task ;  a  great  many  of  the  foreign  community 
are  in  Peking  only  temporarily;  they  are  occupied  with  business 
and  the  social  life  of  their  own  group  and  do  not  come  in  touch 
with  many  of  the  Chinese  other  than  the  limited  number  who  speak 
their  language.  A  few  women  are  interested  in  the  Yang  Lao 
Yuan  or  Old  Ladies'  Home,  being  responsible  for  the  raising  of 
the  funds  for  the  institution:  Countess  Ahlefeld  helped  improve 
conditions  in  the  Foundlings'  Home;  some  are  interested  in  the 
support  of  the  shelters  for  ricksha  coolies,  but  their  share  in  the 
work  is  largely  dealing  with  foreigners  and  raising  money  by 
solicitation  or  benefit  performances. 

Just  as  the  field  work  of  the  survey  was  being  completed  the 
totals  for  the  1918  census  were  published  as  follows : 


Houses   173,212 


Males    637,685 


Females    294,872 


Total 932,557 


Without  having  the  details  of  the  census  at  hand,  it  is  hard  to 
explain  the  difference  between  these  figures  and  those  for  1917. 
The  comparison  of  the  1917  census  with  the  1918  census  shows 
that  in  one  year  the  number  of  occupied  houses  has  increased 
6,690,  or  4  percent,  while  the  population  has  increased  121,001, 
or  15  percent.  The  growth  in  population  has  been  entirely  in  the 
number  of  males.  They  have  increased  122,150,  while  the  num- 
ber of  females  has  decreased  1,149.  The  males  constitute  68.2 
percent  of  the  population  in  1918,  as  compared  with  63.5  percent 
in  1917,  while  the  number  of  males  per  100  females  has  risen 
from  174  to  217. 


CHAPTER  VI 

HEALTH 

To  properly  study  the  health  problems  of  Peking  would  re- 
quire a  special  survey  made  by  men  trained  for  such  work,  but 
in  making  the  social  survey  certain  facts  and  figures  concerning 
the  health  and  sanitation  of  the  city  were  collected  and  are  in- 
cluded in  this  report  because  of  their  bearing  on  the  social  prob- 
lems, and  because  many  of  them  are  not  available  elsewhere. 

The  public  health  work  of  the  city  is  entirely  in  the  hands  of 
the  police,  the  Board  of  Health  being  one  of  the  departments  of 
the  Police  Board.  Other  government  organizations  such  as  the 
Military  Guard  and  the  Metropolitan  District  have  departments 
of  sanitation,  but  as  far  as  Peking  is  concerned  their  principal 
duty  is  to  stamp  the  regulations  as  passed  by  the  Police  Board. 

The  Board  of  Health  consists  of  a  director,  three  assistant 
directors,  each  of  whom  is  in  charge  of  one  of  the  three  depart- 
ments of  the  Board,  two  doctors  who  practice  Chinese  medicine 
and  two  who  practice  foreign  medicine.  The  first  department  of 
the  Board  is  in  charge  of  the  cleaning  of  the  streets,  the  repair 
and  cleaning  of  the  sewers,  the  erection  and  supervision  of  all 
public  toilets,  and  the  transportation  of  night  soil.  Department 
number  two  is  responsible  for  the  health  of  the  city  and  the  pre- 
vention of  disease.  Its  duties  include  the  inspection  of  food 
offered  for  sale  and  the  supervision  of  the  houses  of  prostitution. 
Department  number  three  supervises  all  hospitals,  manages  those 
that  are  run  by  the  police,  and  licenses  all  doctors,  midwives,  and 
those  making  and  compounding  medicines. 

The  regular  expenses  of  the  Board,  including  the  salaries  of 
all  employees,  directors  and  doctors,  are  paid  from  the  general 
police  fund.  Ordinarily  the  Board  of  Health  has  no  budget  of 
its  own,  and  even  in  case  of  an  emergency  the  Police  Board 
furnishes  the  money  needed  to  meet  the  situation. 

A  large  number  of  health  ordinances  have  been  adopted  by 
the  Board  of  Health,  but  only  a  few  of  them  are  definitely  in 
force.  The  head  of  the  Board  is  a  doctor  who  has  been  trained 
in  the  Chinese  system  of  medicine  and  so  has  not  had  experience 
with  western  sanitation  and  hygiene.  The  detailed  enforcement 
of  all  ordinances  is  in  the  hands  of  the  regular  police  officers 
who  usually  have  but  little  appreciation  of  sanitation,  and  th? 

114 


HEALTH  115 

people  themselves,  because  of  ignorance,  see  no  reason  wrry  they 
should  go  to  the  trouble  of  keeping  things  clean,  protecting  food 
offered  for  sale,  etc.  Even  so,  great  progress  has  been  made  in 
the  sanitation  of  the  city  and  one  has  only  to  walk  down  the 
well-paved  and  well-cleaned  streets  and  hear  how  some  of  them 
used  to  be  ankle  deep  in  filth,  to  realize  what  an  improvement 
there  has  been.  Now,  the  principal  problem  is  to  educate  the 
people  so  that  they  will  appreciate  the  need  of  better  sanitation. 
Health  lectures  and  demonstrations  produce  distinct  improve- 
ment, and  in  a  district  where  such  a  campaign  has  been  carried 
on  it  is  not  at  all  unusual  to  find  the  stores  covering  and  protect- 
ing from  flies  food  that  is  offered  for  sale,  a  thing  they  are 
required  to  do  by  the  police  regulations  but  which  they  ordinarily 
neglect. 

,.  Birth  rates  and  death  rates  are  the  fundamental  figures  for 
/all  health  work  and  the  police  have  endeavored  to  secure  the 
^statistics  on  which  these  rates  are  based.  So  far  they  have  not 
been  able  to  secure  accurate  figures,  although  the  reports  are 
becoming  more  and  more  complete.  The  people  simply  will  not 
report  all  births  and  deaths.  When  the  number  of  reported 
births  was  approximately  2,000  in  1914,  4,000  in  1915,  6,000  in 
1916,  and  9,000  in  1917,  it  is  evident  that  the  birth  rate  cannot 
yet  be  determined.  The  death  rate  is  much  more  accurate.  The 
law  requires  that  all  bodies  be  buried  outside  the  city  and,  as  no 
funeral  can  go  through  the  gates  unless  a  police  permit  has 
been  secured,  all  deaths  are  reported  except  perhaps  for  some 
infants. 

In  I9I7,1  9,566  births  were  reported  to  the  police,  a  birth  rate 
of  1 1. 8  per  1,000  persons,  or  32.6  per  1,000  females  and  51.1  per 
1,000  females  of  child  bearing  age  (16-50).  The  birth  rate  for 
325  families  that  belong  to  the  American  Board  Churches  (see 
Chapter  XV,  on  the  Church  Survey)  was  26.5,  the  rate  per  1,000 
females  being  55,  and  94  per  1,000  women  of  child  bearing  age. 
In  a  study  of  several  villages  just  outside  of  Peking,  Prof.  Ditt- 
mer  found  a  birth  rate  of  36.5.  The  Peking  rate  is  too  low,  but 
even  if  it  were  accurate  it  would  still  be  much  lower  than  the 
other  two  because  of  the  small  proportion  of  females  in  the  city 
(36.5  percent).  In  the  two  studies,  48-50  percent  are  females. 
The  birth  rates  for  the  different  police  districts  vary  tre- 
mendously (4.9-25.2),  but  in  some  districts  the  population  is  49 
percent  male,  while  in  others  it  is  75  percent  male,  so  that  the 
only  fair  basis  of  comparison  is  the  birth  rate  per  1,000  females. 
Even  on  that  basis  the  birth  rates  vary  from  16.6  to  68.2.  Some 
of  the  police  districts  are  manifestly  much  more  successful  than 
others  in  securing  a  report  of  births.  In  all  probability  the  Peking 

1  See  table  in  Appendix. 


116  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

birth  rate  is  between  18  and  20  per  1,000  inhabitants,  or  between 
55  and  60  per  1,000  females. 

The  masculinity  rate  (number  of  male  births  per  1,000  female 
births)  of  the  reported  births  is  1,185.  Pr-  Lennox,  in  a  study 
of  4,000  married  men,  found  a  masculinity  rate  of  1,191,  while 
Dr.  Gray,  in  a  study  of  1,000  mothers,  found  a  rate  of  1,131. 
The  high  rate  for  the  police  figures  is  probably  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  people  take  more  pains  to  report  the  birth  of  a  boy.  Of 
the  9,566  reported  births,  640  (6.7  percent)  were  still  births,  307 
males  and  333  females;  5.9  percent  of  all  the  male  births  and 
7.1  percent  of  all  female  births  were  still  births. 

The  number  of  deaths  reported  in  1917  was  20,987,*  a  death 
rate  of  25.8  per  1,000,  the  maximum  for  the  last  five  years. 
The  minimum  rate  was  18.8.  The  death  rate  for  the  church  fam- 
ilies was  only  13,  and  for  Prof.  Dittmer's  study  23,  but  very 
patent  omissions  make  these  too  low.  Of  the  20,987,  11,142  were 
males  and  9,845  females,  only  53  percent  male,  while  the  popula- 
tion of  the  city  is  63.5  percent  male.  Consequently  the  death 
rate  for  males  is  21.6  and  for  females  33.2.  In  other  countries 
the  death  rate  for  females  is  usually  the  lower.  In  the  United 
States  it  is  16.8,  while  the  rate  for  males  is  I9.2.2 

Figures  for  infant  mortality  are  not  given  by  the  police  tables, 
as  all  those  who  are  from  one  to  five  years  of  age,  Chinese 
reckoning,  are  included  in  one  group.  Dr.  Lennox  calculated 
that  the  maximum  infant  mortality  rate  for  his  study  was  184.1, 
168.5  f°r  tne  males  and  202  for  the  females.  According  to  the 
police  figures,  the  death  rate  is  134  for  those  who  are  from  one 
to  five  years  of  age,  122  for  the  males  and  152  for  the  females. 
As  the  ages  increase  the  death  rate  decreases  until  the  minimum 
9.3  is  found  in  the  31-40  year  group.  From  then  on  the  rate 
increases  to  a  maximum  of  147  for  those  who  are  between  81 
and  90  years  of  age.  In  every  age  group,  the  female  death  rate 
is  higher  and  in  some  groups  almost  double  that  of  the  males. 
In  the  21-30  year  group  the  rate  for  males  is  8.5  and  for 
the  females  15.5.  The  minimum  death  rates  for  males  (7.4) 
and  for  females  (12.8)  are  both  found  in  the  31-40  year 
group.3 

Deaths  from  accident  number  117,  suicide  126,  epidemic  dis- 
eases, cholera,  cold,  smallpox,  measles,  scarlet  fever,  diphtheria, 
688,  from  36  other  diseases  17,955,  and  from  old  age  1,804.  The 
rates  per  100,000  of  the  population  are:  Accident  14.4,  suicide 
15.5,  epidemic  diseases  85,  old  age  222. 

The  Peking  suicide  rate  01^15,5  *  is  practically  the  same  as  is 

1  See  table  in  Appendix. 

a  1918  Mortality  Table.     U.  S.  Census  Bureau. 

*  See  table  in  Appendix,  Death  Rate  for  Age  Groups. 

4  See  table  in  Appendix  of  Successful  and  Attempted  Suicides. 


HEALTH  117 

found  in  American  cities  of  about  the  same  size.  Their  rates 
vary  from  14.9  to  I7.O.1  The  rate  for  the  entire  United  States  is 
12.1.  Thirty-three  percent  of  the  Peking  suicides  are  females, 
while  in  the  United  States  only  26  percent  are  women.  The  ages 
of  those  committing  suicide  are  practically  the  same  in  Peking 
and  the  United  States,  the  maximum  number  of  males  being  be- 
tween 31  and  40  years  of  age,  and  of  the  females  between  21  and 
30.  Poverty,  disease,  family  troubles,  insanity  and  hating  one- 
self are  given  as  the  principal  causes  of  suicide  in  Peking.  Other 
causes  are  discovery  of  crime,  debt,  jealousy,  punishment  by 
parents,  old  age.  Disease  is  the  principal  cause  of  suicide  for 
men  and  family  troubles  for  women.  Hanging,  taking  poison, 
drowning  and  stabbing  are  the  most  popular  methods  of  suicide; 
shooting  was  used  by  only  one  person,  although  in  the  United 
States  more  people  use  that  method  than  any  other.  One  of  the 
simple  ways  of  taking  poison  is  to  eat  the  phosphorescent  heads 
of  a  box  or  two  of  matches.  May  and  December  are  the  months 
in  which  the  largest  number  of  suicides  occur. 

While  there  were  688  deaths  from  infectious  diseases  in  1917, 
there  were  2,691  cases  reported,  a  mortality  rate  of  25.6  percent.2 
It  is  striking  that  only  5  percent  of  the  cholera  cases  resulted 
fatally,  while  54  percent  of  the  smallpox  and  75  percent  of  the 
scarlet  fever  cases  died.  The  Chinese  have  learned  to  recognize 
the  seriousness  of  cholera  and  take  the  patients  to  the  hospital, 
but  a  case  of  smallpox  or  scarlet  fever  goes  to  the  hospital  only 
if  it  is  very  serious.  The  Chinese  attitude  toward  smallpox  is 
well  shown  by  the  answer  given  by  a  woman  when  she  was  asked 
whether  she  had  ever  had  smallpox  or  been  vaccinated,  "The  idea 
of  your  asking  me,  a  woman  of  twenty-eight,  whether  I've  had 
smallpox  or  not.  Of  course  I've  had  it." 

From  1913  to  1917  there  was  a  very  marked  decrease  (43 
percent)  in  the  number  of  epidemic  cases :  4,744  in  1913  and  2,691 
in  1917.  The  decrease  in  the  number  of  cases  resulting  fatally 
is  even  more  striking.  The  1917  deaths  were  just  one-quarter  of 
those  occurring  in  1913.  Furthermore,  in  1913  59  percent  of  all 
the  epidemic  cases  resulted  fatally,  while  in  1917  only  25  percent 
died,  a  remarkable  improvement. 

A  special  hospital  has  been  opened  by  the  National  Govern- 
ment to  care  for  all  infectious  cases  and  to  see  that  all  places 
where  such  cases  are  found  are  properly  disinfected.  The  police 
are  required  to  report  to  the  hospital  all  infectious  cases  that 
come  to  their  notice  and  all  deaths  that  have  resulted  from  an 
infectious  disease.  As  the  people  are  still  inclined  to  be  sus- 
picious of  a  hospital,  the  police  find  it  difficult  to  get  a  report  of 

1  Mortality  Statistics,  1918.     U.  S.  Census  Bureau. 

3  See  table,  Epidemic  Diseases,  Cases  and  Deaths,  Appendix. 


118  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

the  more  common  infectious  diseases,  but  conditions  are  improv- 
ing year  by  year. 

The  police  give  tuberculosis  as  the  cause  of  4,108  deaths  (19.7 
percent  of  all  deaths).  Epilepsy  was  the  cause  of  4,247  deaths 
(20.3  percent),  and  lung  and  bronchial  troubles  of  1,105  (5-3 
percent). 

The  hospitals  in  Peking  numbered  38  in  i9i7,^and-46  jn  1919. 
Six  are  government  hospitals,  four  are  supported  by  other  public 
funds,  17  are  under  private  Chinese  management,  and  16  are  run 
by  foreigners.  Of  the  latter,  nine  are  managed  by  Japanese,  one 
by  German,  one  by  French,  and  five  by  American  doctors.  In 
1917  the  hospitals  treated  81,604  persons. 

The  finest  hospital  in  the  city  is  that  of  the  China  Medical 
Board  of  the  Rockefeller  Foundation,  for  the  25o-bed  hospital, 
the  medical  school  for  100  students,  the  residences  for  staff  and 
students  and  nurses  and  all  the  necessary  equipment  represent 
an  investment  of  some  seven  million  dollars  gold.  The  archi- 
tecture of  the  building  is  Chinese,  with  high,  curved,  green-tiled 
roofs  and  brilliant  decorations  under  the  eaves,  but  the  interior 
equipment  is  modern  in  every  respect.  The  green  roofs  of  the 
building  are  such  a  striking  feature  of  the  city  that  many  of  the 
Chinese  are  calling  the  hospital  compound  'The  Green-Tiled 
City." 

It  is  the  aim  of  the  China  Medical  Board  to  make  this  the 
center  of  medical  work  in  China,  at  least  as  far  as  foreigners 
are  concerned,  and  they  plan  to  train  the  Chinese  who  are  to 
be  the  future  medical  leaders  of  the  country.  The  teaching  is 
all  done  in  English  as  that  seemed  the  best  way  to  overcome 
the  many  problems  connected  with  the  Chinese  dialects,  the 
difficulty  of  foreigners  learning  Chinese,  the  lack  of  text-books 
in  Chinese. 

The  Central  Hospital,  built  and  opened  in  1918  under  the 
direction  of  Dr.  Wu  Lien  Teh,  who  is  now  the  head  of  the 
plague  prevention  work  of  the  Government,  is  the  best  of  the 
government  hospitals.  The  $250,000  needed  for  the  building 
and  equipment  was  secured  partly  from  government  sources  and 
partly  by  private  subscription.  The  Inner  City  Public  Hospital 
and  the  Outer  City  Public  Hospital  are  under  the  control  of  the 
health  department  of  the  Peking  Police  Board.  According  to 
the  police  report  the  budget  of  the  two  institutions  amounts  to 
$60,934  a  year.  The  Hospital  for  Contagious  Diseases  is  run  by 
the  Municipal  Council.  The  Japanese  hospitals,  as  far  as  is  known, 
are  all  private  institutions  and  are  operated  for  profit.  Three  of 
the  American  hospitals  and  the  French  Hospital  are  mission 
hospitals. 

There  are   1,098  physicians  in  Peking.     Nine  hundred  and 


ONE  OF  PEKING'S  SMELLS — PART  OF  THE  "SEWER  SYSTEM." 

The    night    soil    of    the    city    is    collected    in    wheelbarrows,    taken    outside    the 
city   wall   and   dried   for   fertilizer. 


OLD    STYLE    "RUNNING    WATER"    SYSTEM. 

Although  well  water,  distributed  in  wheelbarrows,  still  supplies  most  of  the 
city,  water  under  pressure  is  delivered  through  a  modern  system  to  those 
who  can  afford  to  pay  for  it.  10  gallons  cost  1  cent. 


- 


A    PROFESSIONAL    BEGGAR. 

Happy  on  eight  cents  a  day  but  can  live  on  three.      Studies  of  Peking  family 
budgets  show  that  a  family  of  five  can  live  on  $100  a  year. 


HEALTH  119 

eighty-nine  use  Chinese  medicine  while  109  have  had  training 
in  western  medicine.  The  number  of  foreign  doctors  is  59,  but 
this  number  will  be  materially  increased  when  the  staff  of  the 
China  Medical  Board  is  complete. 

Vaccination  stations,  most  of  which  give  free  service,  are 
opened  in  different  parts  of  the  city  for  several  months  of  each 
year.  In  1917,  there  were  66  centers  and  8,794  persons  were 
vaccinated,  5,021  males  and  3,773  females. 

One  hundred  and  eighty- four  midwives  are  registered  with 
the  police,1  168  Chinese  and  16  foreign,  most  of  the  latter  being 
Japanese.  Very  few,  however,  have  ever  had  any  training  in 
modern  obstetrical  methods,  as  only  7  of  the  184  are  under  36 
years  of  age  and  only  22  (12  percent)  are  under  46.  Six  are 
even  over  80  years  of  age.  Under  these  conditions,  325  women 
died  in  childbirth  in  1917,  or  one  for  every  29  births.  And  that 
does  not  include  those  who  died  of  infection  or  other  after 
effects.  The  situation  will  gradually  improve  as  the  National 
Board  of  Education  has  established  a  Training  School  for  Mid- 
wives  in  Peking,  but  progress  will  be  slow  as  at  present  there 
are  only  56  students  in  the  school. 

The  Medical  College  of  the  National  Board  of  Education 
and  the  Medical  College  of  the  Board  of  War  are  also  located 
in  Peking;  the  former  having  69  and  the  latter  240  students. 
The  Government  has  no  medical  school  for  women  in  Peking 
and  the  training  of  women  doctors  is  entirely  in  the  hands  of 
foreigners.  The  China  Medical  Board  has  opened  its  medical 
school  to  women,  but  so  far  has  only  a  very  few  students.  The 
North  China  Union  Medical  College  for  Women,  a  union  mission 
institution,  has  a  student  body  of  35,  and  in  1919  graduated  a 
class  of  1 8.  The  China  Medical  Board  is  cooperating  with  the 
Mission  College,  giving  some  financial  support  and  also  training 
its  students  in  special  work. 

Nurses'  training  schools  are  maintained  by  the  mission  hos- 
pitals and  by  the  China  Medical  Board. 

It  has  long  been  felt  that  the  pupils  in  the  higher  schools  in 
Peking  should  be  given  courses  on  public  health  and  social  serv- 
ice, but  until  recently  this  has  been  impossible;  there  was  no 
one  to  give  the  courses,  and  there  was  no  support  for  the  work. 
Now  there  are  doctors,  nurses  and  workers  in  the  city  who  can 
do  the  teaching,  financial  support  can  be  secured,  and  a  com- 
mittee of  the  Peking  Branch  of  the  China  Medical  Missionary 
Association  has  worked  out  a  health  and  service  program  that 
was  started  in  four  schools  in  Peking  in  the  fall  of  1920.  Over 
twenty  physicians,  nurses,  preachers  and  teachers  have  volun- 
teered to  give  lectures  and  demonstrations  covering  personal 

1  See  Appendix,  table  of  Number  and  Ages  of  Midwives. 


120  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

hygiene,  individual  prophylaxis  against  communicable  diseases, 
community  sanitation  and  social  service.  The  entire  student 
body  of  each  of  the  schools  participating  will  be  required  to 
attend  the  lectures  and  to  pass  examinations  on  the  work. 

It  is  also  the  plan  to  organize  groups  of  medical  and  college 
students  who  will  take  special  training,  and  then  give  lectures 
and  demonstrations  during  the  summer  vacation,  the  experience 
of  the  lecture  department  of  the  Y.M.C.A.  and  of  the  Com- 
munity Social  Service  Group  in  Peking  (see  Chapter  XVII) 
having  shown  that  this  is  one  of  the  best  ways  of  putting  infor- 
mation before  the  people.  Improvement  in  public  hygiene  can 
come  only  as  the  people  are  made  to  realize  the  need  of  it,  and 
are  shown  practical  methods.  If  funds  are  available,  the  lec- 
turers will  be  paid  a  small  salary  and  all  expenses. 

WATER    SUPPLY 

Surface  wells  are  still  the  principal  source  of  water  supply 
for  Peking  although  water  from  the  Sun  Ho,  a  river  to  the 
northeast  of  the  city,  is  delivered  under  pressure  by  the  Peking 
Water  Company,  and  artesian  water  can  be  found  in  some  parts 
of  the  city.  The  reason  is  largely  one  of  expense. 

The  Chinese  originally  dug  wells  that  were  shallow  and  the 
water  was  usually  brackish  and  impure,  but  with  the  coming 
of  the  foreigners  better  drilling  methods  were  introduced  and 
most  of  the  wells  are  now  deep  enough  to  find  water  that  is 
sweet  and  free  from  surface  contamination,  though  some  wells 
are  apt  to  be  infected  because  of  bad  location.  Several  cases 
are  known  where  the  public  well  and  the  public  toilet  are  side  by 
side.  Recently  some  deep  wells  (300-400  feet)  have  been  dug, 
but  only  part  of  them  have  found  an  artesian  flow. 

The  water  from  the  wells  is  distributed  by  water-carriers 
who  take  it  through  the  streets  in  wooden  tanks  on  large  wheel- 
barrows, a  wheelbarrow  load  containing  some  twelve  buckets- 
full,  and  sell  it  to  the  householder.  The  usual  charge  is  one 
copper  for  two  buckets  full,  though  in  some  cases  the  water- 
carriers  contract  to  furnish  families  with  all  the  water  they  need 
for  a  fixed  monthly  rate.  The  privilege  of  supplying  water  to 
the  people  of  a  given  district  ordinarily  belongs  to  some  one  man 
who  has  acquired  it  by  inheritance.  If  he  does  not  wish  to  run 
the  business  himself  he  leases  the  privilege  and  for  the  lease 
receives  10  percent  of  the  total  income  of  the  district.  The  ordi- 
nary water-carriers  are  hired  by  the  month  and  receive  from 
$3  to  $4  a  month,  besides  their  room,  board,  shoes  and  hair-cuts. 
Water  from  public  wells  dug  by  the  Government  costs  distributors 
nothing,  but  for  water  from  private  wells  they  have  to  pay  from 


HEALTH 

$10  to  $12  a  year.  There  are  some  2,500  water-carriers  in  the 
city,  and  up  to  1910  they  were  all  united  in  one  gild,  a  very 
powerful  organization,  but  it  has  been  so  weakened  by  competition 
with  the  Peking  Water  Company  that  now  there  is  practically  no 
gild  organization,  though  there  are  some  signs  that  it  will  be 
revived. 

In  1908,  a  stock  corporation  with  an  authorized  capital  of 
$3,000,000  was  organized,  under  German  control,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  installing  a  water  system  in  Peking,  and  the  construction 
work  was  completed  by  1910.  The  water  is  taken  from  the 
Sun  Ho,  passed  through  three  reservoirs,  settled  and  clarified 
and  then  brought  to  the  city  where  it  is  put  under  pressure  by 
means  of  a  i65~foot  water  tower.  The  distributing  system  con- 
tains approximately  100  miles  of  pipe  and  covers  practically  all 
of  the  densely  populated  part  of  the  city. 

The  company  charges  one  copper  for  ten  gallons  of  water, 
so  only  about  3,400  families  have  direct  connection  with  the 
water  system.  A  great  many  other  families,  however,  get  their 
water  from  one  of  the  420  street  hydrants,  as  a  man  is  stationed 
at  many  of  these  to  distribute  water  and  collect  the  water  tickets 
issued  by  the  company.  The  hydrants  are  also  a  source  of  water 
supply  in  case  of  fire,  the  capacity  of  the  system  being  300,000  gal- 
lons an  hour. 

The  following  is  the  chemical  examination  of  the  water 
furnished  by  the  Peking  Water  Company : 

Parts  Parts 

per  per 

hundred  hundred 

thousand  thousand 

Solid    matter   in    solution. .  .26.4  Total  hardness    9.0 

(a)  Volatile  8.1  (a)  temporary    2.0 

(b)  fixed    18.3  (b)  permanent    7.0 

Chlorine 1.3  Sulphates     o.ooi 

Nitrogen    0.081  Iron    1.5 

Saline   Ammonia    0.0004  Nitrates    Nil 

Poison  metal    Nil  Oxygen    absorbed    in    one 

Phosphate   Nil  hour  at  37° 0.0190 

Bacteriological  Examination 

No  Bacilli 


SEWERS 

The  Peking  sewer  system,  part  of  which  dates  back  to  the 
Ming  Dynasty  (1365-1644),  is  designed  to  care  only  for  the 
drainage  and  waste  water  of  the  city.  The  night  soil  is  all 
collected,  dried,  and  used  as  fertilizer;  where  modern  plumbing 
is  used,  cesspools  are  required. 

Most  of  the  sewers  are  made  of  large  stone  slabs,  and  as 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

there  are  cracks  between  the  stones  much  of  the  water  seeps 
away  into  the  surrounding  earth.  Any  that  remains  is  finally 
emptied  into  one  of  the  several  canals  of  the  city  and  by  them 
carried  outside  the  walls.  There  are  approximately  145  miles 
of  sewers,  exclusive  of  canals,  in  Peking  (see  map). 

When  a  sewer  is  near  by,  most  of  the  houses  are  connected 
with  it,  so  that  their  courtyards  may  drain  rapidly  after  a  rain. 
Openings  are  provided  along  the  streets  for  drainage  and  to  care 
for  the  waste  water  of  the  houses  that  are  not  connected  with 
the  sewers.  This  waste  is  collected  in  large  wooden  buckets  and 
then  carried  out  and  emptied  into  the  sewer.  The  police  insist 
that  it  must  go  into  the  sewer  and  not  onto  the  street. 

The  sewer  openings  on  the  streets  are  protected  by  large 
wooden  boxes  in  the  bottom  of  which  is  a  metal  grating  to  keep 
out  the  larger  pieces  of  refuse.  All  of  the  boxes  are  supposed 
to  have  covers,  but  many  of  them  are  in  bad  condition  and  it 
is  not  at  all  unusual  to  see  dogs  hunting  for  something  to  eat 
among  the  scraps  that  have  been  collected  by  the  gratings.  Those 
that  have  been  put  in  recently  are  arranged  so  that  the  top  of 
the  box  is  locked  down  and  opened  only  for  cleaning.  There  is 
a  metal  door  in  the  side  of  the  box  that  swings  in  when  water 
is  poured  against  it,  and  then  closes  by  its  own  weight,  keeping 
in  any  scraps  of  food  that  there  may  be  in  the  water.  The 
refuse  collected  by  the  sewer  boxes  and  the  ashes  and  refuse 
of  the  houses  are  carried  out  to  the  dumps  in  small  hand  carts, 
the  expenses  of  which  are  paid  by  those  who  live  on  the  street. 

Because  of  the  friable  nature  of  the  Peking  soil,  the  sewers 
gradually  fill  up  with  earth,  and  men  are  constantly  kept  busy 
cleaning  them  out.  Most  of  the  men  are  inmates  of  the  poor- 
houses. 

The  5,000  men  engaged  in  the  collection  and  handling  of  the 
city's  night  soil  are  all  members  of  the  Fertilizer  Gild,  which 
was  organized  in  1900,  by  order  of  the  police.  This  gild  is 
responsible  for  the  enforcement  of  the  police  rules  and  the 
collection  of  any  fees  the  members  may  owe  the  police.  One 
of  the  gild  rules  makes  it  impossible  for  a  man  to  give  up  his 
position,  or  for  his  employer  to  discharge  him  except  for  very 
serious  reasons,  except  at  Chinese  New  Year — a  limitation  that 
is  found  in  almost  no  other  gild. 

House  to  house  collections  are  made  every  morning  and  are 
carried  in  wheelbarrows  outside  of  the  city  where  the  manure 
is  dried  for  fertilizer.  Until  1906,  many  of  these  drying  yards 
were  inside  the  city,  but  the  police  have  forced  them  all  outside 
the  walls,  most  of  them  outside  the  south  wall  of  the  South  City. 
Even  there,  the  yards  are  controlled  by  the  police  and  by  them 
rented  to  the  users. 


HEALTH 


128 


SEWER  SYSTEM 
...,.,.,.  Canals 


Oectric  Light  and  Water  systems  are  similar,  but  both  are  more  extensive  in  the  South  City 
The  Water  system  in  the  North  City  covers  the  same  area  but  with  fewer  mains 

Figure  13 

There  are  528  pubjjcjoilets jm  the  streets  of  the  city.  Some 
are  inside  well-built  frame  buildings,  but  others  are  simply 
inclosed  by  a  low  wall.  Practically  all  of  them  have  been  estab- 
lished by  the  police  and  are  rented  to  the  collectors  of  night  soil. 
The  total  rent  amounts  to  over  $700  a  month.  The  police  require 
that  the  renters  have  their  men  clean  the  toilets  and  that  they 
themselves  personally  inspect  them  every  day,  but,  even  so,  it  is 
difficult  to  get  the  cleaning  properly  done  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 


184  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

the  demand  for  fertilizer  has  so  increased  during  the  last  few 
years  that  the  police  and  the  Fertilizer  Gild  have  found  it  neces- 
sary to  impose  heavy  fines  on  any  one  found  cleaning  toilets 
that  they  are  not  renting.  The  odors  of  Peking  are  practically 
all  concentrated  around  the  public  toilets  and  the  wheelbarrows 
of  the  collectors. 

STREET    CLEANING 

The  street  cleaning  of  the  city  is  done  by  a  force  of  1*518.. 
» men,  organized  and  controlled  by  the  health  department  of  the 
Police  Board.  These  men,  dressed  in  special  blue  uniforms,  can 
be  found  on  all  the  highways  and  many  of  the  smaller  streets, 
and  they  keep  the  streets  not  only  clean  but  also  sprinkled  and 
repaired.  When  snow  falls,  a  coating  of  ashes  is  spread  over 
all  the  main  highways  in  less  than  24  hours.  In  case  of  rain, 
the  worst  of  the  mud  is  rapidly  swept  off  of  the  macadam  part 
of  the  highway,  while  throughout  the  dry  season  the  dust  of  the 
roads  is  kept  down  by  sprinkling.  Some  of  the  streets  are 
watered  by  horse-drawn  carts  but  the  majority  are  sprinkled 
by  hand.  Two  men  carry  a  large  tub  of  water  out  into  the 
center  of  the  street  and  then,  by  means  of  a  willow  basket  on 
the  end  of  a  pole,  give  the  street  an  even  sprinkling.  The  work 
is  done  though  there  is  a  constant  stream  of  traffic  on  the  roads, 
and  the  passers-by  are  seldom  hit  with  any  water. 

The  cleaning  and  sprinkling  of  the  main  highways  is  done 
at  public  expense  and  the  annual  budget  for  the  work  amounts 
to  $144,000.  When  the  smaller  streets  are  cared  for,  particularly 
if  they  are  sprinkled,  the  work  is  usually  paid  for  by  those  who 
live  on  the  street.  Before  1912,  the  householders  of  a  street 
or  district  elected  committees  to  look  after  the  care  of  the  street 
and  to  collect  any  needed  money.  These  organizations  have  now 
been  taken  over  by  the  police  who  supervise  the  work  and  make 
the  collections.  They  post  a  report  once  a  month,  showing  the 
amount  of  money  collected  from  each  house  and  the  expenditures 
for  the  work  of  the  district.  The  contributions  vary  from  a 
few  coppers  to  one  dollar  a  month,  while  the  expenses  as  reported 
for  two  streets  in  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  district  vary  from  $10 
to  $16.  The  men  doing  the  work  receive  a  salary  of  $5  a  month. 

STREET    LIGHTING 

The  expense  of  lighting  many  of  the  streets  is  met  in  the 
same  way.  All  of  the  main  highways  and  some  of  the  smaller 
streets  are  lighted  by  electricity  at  public  expense,  and  are  well 
illuminated.  The  other  streets  are  lighted  by  small  kerosene 
lamps  that  give  just  enough  light  to  make  it  possible  to  see  if 


HEALTH  125 

any  one  is  coming  down  the  road.  From  a  distance,  the  lamps 
look  like  little  stars  shining  on  the  sides  of  the  street.  The 
lighting  of  the  smaller  streets  is  paid  for  by  those  who  live  on 
the  street.  The  men  who  look  after  the  lights  are  under  the 
control  of  the  police  but  are  apparently  a  separate  group  from 
those  who  water  the  streets,  as  many  streets  are  lighted  but  not 
sprinkled. 

The  first  street  lights  in  the  1 3th  Ward  (a  district  in  the 
East  City,  just  south  of  the  Y.M.C.A.  building)  were  arranged 
for  by  the  Buddhist  Reform  Society  in  1898.  The  Society 
carried  on  the  work  until  1914,  when  the  police  took  it  over. 
The  head  of  the  Society  stated  that  he  felt  the  police  were  looking 
after  the  work  very  well. 

INSANE   ASYLUM 

Asylums  for  the  insane  are  not  ordinarily  found  in  Chinese 
cities.  Peking  did  not  have  one  until  the  police  began  taking 
over  the  institutional  work  of  the  city  in  1912,  the  first  year 
of  the  Republic.  In  that  year  they  opened  one  in  the  West  City 
in  connection  with  one  of  the  poorhouses,  but  the  combination 
of  the  two  institutions  was  far  from  satisfactory  and  in  January, 
1918,  the  asylum  was  moved  into  separate  quarters  on  Kao 
Kung  An  in  the  North  City.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  con- 
ditions in  the  old  location — and  we  heard  that  they  had  been  very 
bad — the  new  location  and  buildings  are  very  good,  and  as  far  as 
could  be  judged  from  a  single  visit  the  inmates  are  well  cared  for. 
Temple  style  buildings  are  used  and  separate  courts  are  provided 
for  men  and  women.  There  are  accommodations  for  about  80, 
but  at  the  time  of  our  visit  there  were  only  32  inmates,  23  men 
and  9  women.  The  patients  are  ordinarily  confined  in  large  rooms 
and,  sitting  on  the  k'ang  or  built-in  bed  which  runs  around  three 
sides  of  the  room,  they  carry  on  their  wild  motions  and  talking. 
Those  who  are  violent  are  shackled  and  placed  on  a  rug  on  the 
floor  in  the  center  of  the  room  so  they  cannot  injure  the  other 
patients.  A  few  separate  rooms  are  provided  for  those  who  are 
recovering  or  for  those  who  have  wealth  or  position.  Practically 
no  use  is  made  of  the  courtyard  for  giving  the  patients  any  exer- 
cise. The  regular  diet  consists  of  two  meals  a  day  of  millet  and 
salt  vegetables.  Chinese  medicine  is  used  entirely,  and  the  manager 
reported  that  the  treatment  was  meeting  with  considerable  suc- 
cess, for  during  1918  some  30  patients  were  discharged  as  cured. 

The  management  of  the  institution  is  entirely  in  the  hands 
of  the  police,  who  not  only  appoint  the  manager,  vice-manager, 
doctors  and  guards,  but  also  pay  all  the  bills.  Inasmuch  as  the 
man  who  was  manager  at  the  time  of  our  visit  was  doing  work 


126  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

in  another  institution,  he  received  no  salary  for  his  work  in  the 
asylum.  The  vice-manager  was  paid  $20  a  month.  The  total 
operating  expenses  of  the  asylum,  exclusive  of  the  salaries  of 
the  doctors  and  police  guards,  amount  to  approximately  $2,400 
a  year.  Cases  are  admitted  only  after  they  have  been  brought 
to  the  notice  of  the  local  police,  referred  by  them  to  the  Central 
Police  Board  and  approved  by  it.  If  the  patient  is  discharged, 
he  is  returned  to  his  family  by  the  local  police. 

While  the  asylum  is  now  giving  but  little  more  than  custodial 
care,  it  is  offering  a  place  where  insane  patients  can  be  sent  and 
making  it  possible  for  their  families  to  be  relieved  of  their  care. 
Even  so,  the  people  are  slow  to  make  use  of  it  and  there  is  a 
feeling  throughout  the  city  that  a  family  ought  to  do  almost 
anything  rather  than  send  a  person  to  the  asylum.  Cases  are 
known  where  families  have  even  called  in  ruffians  to  break  the 
arms  and  legs  of  those  who  are  violently  insane,  so  that  they 
cannot  get  about  and  do  damage. 

An  attempt  was  made  to  find  out  from  the  manager  of  the 
asylum  what  was  being  done  for  the  remainder  of  the  insane  in 
the  city,  but  the  interpreter  refused  to  translate  the  question. 
He  said,  "Why  do  you  ask  that?  Here  is  room  for  80  patients 
and  there  are  only  32  inmates.  There  can't  be  any  more  insane 
in  trie  city."  In  another  report,  the  police  gave  the  number  of 
insane  as  1,366  or  nearly  two-tenths  of  one  percent  (0.17  per- 
cent) of  the  population,  which  is  only  one-half  or  one-third  of 
the  proportion  of  the  population  that  is  being  cared  for  in  the 
asylums  of  some  American  States. 

It  is  always  a  source  of  wonder  that  there  is  not  more  insanity 
among  the  Chinese.  There  is  a  very  considerable  amount  of 
syphilitic  infection,  but  the  insanity  that  accompanies  that  disease 
in  America  seems  to  be  absent  in  China.  The  Chinese  have 
apparently  developed  through  long  years  a  high  degree  of  immu- 
nity to  the  nervous  effects  that  accompany  syphilis  in  America 
or  else  have  developed  a  strain  of  the  disease  that  is  less  virulent 
than  that  found  in  America.  The  phlegmatic  temperament  of 
the  Chinese  and  the  lack  of  strain  in  their  life,  of  course,  save 
many  who  under  other  conditions  might  be  insane,  and  then  too 
the  Chinese  make  no  effort  to  recognize  and  confine  those  who, 
in  western  countries,  would  be  classed  as  imbeciles  or  low  grade 
morons.  Just  how  many  there  are  of  these  in  a  city  like  Peking 
it  is  impossible  to  estimate,  though  they  are  frequently  met  with 
on  the  street.  Country  villages  have  been  found  where,  largely 
because  of  close  inter-marriage,  as  many  as  75  percent  of  the 
population  are  low  grade  morons  or  worse. 

As  far  as  can  be  discovered  the  Peking  Asylum  is  the  first 
of  its  kind  in  China.  One  has  been  established  in  Canton  by 


HEALTH  :.27 

missionaries,  but  this  is  the  first  to  be  opened  by  the  Govern- 
ment. It  is  the  beginning  of  a  new  movement.  There  are  no 
precedents  and  but  little  experience  back  of  it.  What  progress 
will  it  make  as  it  develops? 

The  foundations  of  public  health  work  have  been  well  laid 
in  Peking.  Good  health  regulations  and  ordinances  have  been 
adopted,  a  large  number  of  hospitals  have  been  opened  and  have 
connected  with  them  many  doctors  who  have  had  excellent 
training,  the  city  is  well  drained  and  is  kept  comparatively  clean. 
Now,  the  great  need  is  education.  The  people  must  be  taught 
the  value  of  cleanliness  and  hygiene.  The  material  for  health 
campaigns  has  been  worked  out  in  part.  Much  of  the  detail  work 
can  be  done  by  the  students  of  the  many  schools  of  the  city. 
Experience  in  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  district  and  in  other  cities 
has  shown  that  such  work  is  productive  of  results.  Peking  has 
the  opportunity  of  being  a  city  that  is  healthy  as  well  as  romantic 
and  fascinating. 


CHAPTER  VII 
EDUCATION 

Aristocracy  in  China  is  not  one  of  descent  as  in  European 
countries,  or  of  wealth  as  some  say  it  is  in  America,  but  rather 
one  of  learning.  For  centuries,  in  theory  at  least  and  to  a  very 
large  extent  in  practice,  the  successful  competitors  in  the  old 
style  classical  examinations  have  been  the  leaders  of  the  nation. 
Prior  to  1905,  preliminary  examinations  leading  to  the  Hsiu  ts'ai 
degree  were  held  in  all  the  hsien  cities  (county  seats)  of  the 
country.  The  degree  of  "Chu  jen"  was  given  to  those  who 
passed  the  next  higher  examination,  held  in  the  provincial  capi- 
tals, while  every  three  years  examinations  were  held  in  Peking 
for  those  who  had  won  the  "Chu  jen"  degree.  Those  who 
passed  were  given  the  "Chin  shih"  degree,  those  with  a  very 
high  mark  received  the  <rHan  lin"  degree,  while  the  man  who 
passed  the  best  examination  was  awarded  the  coveted  degree  of 
"Chuang  yuari."  The  possession  of  any  one  of  these  higher 
degrees  almost  inevitably  meant  an  offer  of  high  official  position. 

The  close  connection  between  scholastic  attainment  and  offi- 
cial position  and  the  fact  that  the  highest  examinations  were 
given  only  in  its  examination  halls  made  Peking  the  educational 
as  well  as  the  political  center  of  old  China.  And  it  has 
maintained  this  position  in  spite  of  the  many  changes  of  recent 
years. 

Nearly  all  of  the  highest  of  the  modern  schools,  the  Govern- 
ment University,  the  National  Teachers'  College,  the  Customs 
College,  Tsing  Hua  the  American  Indemnity  College  and  others 
under  the  various  boards  of  the  National  Government  are  in  or 
near  the  city.  In  fact  some  schools,  like  the  Army  Medical 
College,  have  recently  been  moved  to  Peking.  There  are  more 
higher  grade  students  in  Peking  than  in  any  other  city  in  China. 
However,  a  study  made  in  1912  in  the  native  provinces  of  the 
students  in  the  Government  University  and  the  Higher  Normal 
School  showed  that  there  were  more  students  from  the  south 
than  from  the  north,  the  largest  number  coming  from  Chekiang 
and  Kwangtung  Provinces. 

The  old  style  classical  education  has  been  so  fully  described 
by  many  writers  on  China,  S.  W.  Williams,  W.  A,  P,  Martin 

128 


EDUCATION  129 

and  others,  that  no  attempt  is  made  to  treat  it  at  any  length  in 
this  survey,  it  being  our  aim  rather  to  describe  the  present  edu- 
cational situation  in  Peking. 

Prior  to  1900,  with  the  exception  of  mission  schools,  there 
were  practically  no  schools  in  China  that  could  be  called  modern. 
The  nearest  were  the  Pa  Ch'i  Kuan  Hsueh,  schools  established 
for  the  Manchus  so  that  they  might  become  interested  in  the 
literature  and  learning  of  their  subjects.  These  schools,  to  which 
the  pupils  came  at  6  o'clock  in  the  morning,  offered  a  course  that 
included  the  customary  study  of  the  classics,  the  composing  of 
essays,  the  writing  of  Chinese  characters  and  the  study  of 
Chinese  history  and  was  designed  to  prepare  a  man  for  the 
classical  examinations. 

The  real  beginning  of  modern  education  came  in  1903  when 
the  Chin  Shih  Kwan  or  school  for  those  holding  doctors'  degrees 
was  founded  at  T'ai  P'u  Ssu  Chieh,  now  the  site  of  the  Peking 
Law  College.  Most  of  the  students  were  middle-aged  or  even 
old  men,  for  the  old  style  scholars  realized  that  their  training 
was  not  suited  to  the  new  conditions  and  they  wanted  a  place 
where  they  could  study  modern  subjects.  The  school  was  estab- 
lished to  meet  this  need,  but  because  of  the  rapidly  changing 
conditions  was  maintained  for  only  a  few  years. 

The  Eight  Banner  High  School  (Pei  Ch'eng  Pa  Ch'i  Kao 
Teng  Hsueh  T'ang),  which  is  now  the  First  Middle  School  at 
Liang  Chia  Hut'ung  was  founded  in  1904  and  the  Five  City 
Middle  School  (Wu  Ch'eng  Chung  Hsueh  T'ang)  was  started 
about  the  same  time.  This  latter  school  was  the  predecessor 
of  the  Fu  Shu  Middle  School  now  connected  with  the  National 
Teachers'  College. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  EDUCATION   IN    PEKING 

On  September  5,  1905,  the  Empress  Dowager  by  an  imperial 
edict  abolished  the  old  classical  educational  system,  ordered  the 
establishment  of  a  modern  system  throughout  the  entire  Empire 
and  put  the  well-known  statesman  Chang  Chih  Tung  in  charge 
of  the  work. 

According  to  the  original  plan  there  was  to  be,  first  of  all, 
a  kindergarten  with  two  and  three  year  courses,  followed,  on 
the  classical  side,  by  lower  and  higher  primary  schools  with  five 
and  four  year  courses  respectively,  a  middle  school  with  a  five  year 
course,  a  university  preparatory  school  with  a  four  year  course, 
a  high  school  with  a  three  year  course  for  those  who  were  not 
entering  the  university  and  finally  the  university  with  a  three 
year  course. 

On  the  industrial  side  there  were  to  be  lower  primary  schools, 


130  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

elementary  technical  schools,  middle  technical  schools  and  higher 
technical  schools  each  with  three  year  courses. 

Paralleling  the  classical  middle  schools  there  were  to  be 
elementary  normal  schools  with  a  five  year  course  followed  by 
higher  normal  schools  with  a  three  year  course.  To  prepare 
diplomats  for  foreign  service  there  was  to  be  a  College  of 
Languages  with  a  five  year  course  equal  in  grade  to  the  high 
school. 

Naturally  it  took  time  to  work  out  this  huge  system  but  every 
effort  was  made  to  get  it  started.  As  school  buildings  were 
lacking  many  of  the  temples  were  turned  into  primary  schools  in 
which  reading  and  writing  of  Chinese  characters,  old  style 
Chinese  calculation,  arithmetic  and  moral  instruction  were  taught 
if  the  school  were  of  lower  primary  grade,  and  geography,  his- 
tory, elementary  chemistry  and  physics,  drawing  and  athletic 
drill,  were  added  if  it  was  a  higher  primary  school.1  The  old 
temple  gods  were  replaced  by  modern  school  desks  and  black- 
boards. Teachers  had  to  be  trained  and  special  schools  with 
"hurry  up"  courses  were  instituted. 

In  spite  of  the  many  difficulties,  progress  was  most  rapid,  for 
even  by  1907  there  were  200  schools,  1,300  teachers  and  17,053 
students  in  Peking;  115  of  the  schools  and  9,500  of  the  students 
were  of  lower  primary  grade,  the  middle  schools  had  approxi- 
mately one  thousand  students,  while  there  were  1,840  pupils  in 
higher  schools.  Only  17  of  the  schools  were  for  girls,  only  100 
of  the  teachers  were  women  and  the  girl  students  numbered 
but  771. 

The  special  schools  for  Manchus,  some  of  which  are  still 
conducted  in  Peking,  were  one  of  the  interesting  features  of  the 
elementary  school  work.  These  were  the  successors  of  the 
Manchu  schools  mentioned  above.  In  1907  there  were  45  of 
these  schools  in  the  city  with  an  enrollment  of  4,300  students. 

In  the  early  days  of  modern  education  a  great  many  primary 
schools  were  established  in  Peking  by  the  provincial  clubs  or 
gilds  (Hui  Kuan).  Their  average  enrollment  in  1907  was  68 
but  as  the  government  education  became  more  efficient  and  the 
national  spirit  developed,  these  schools  that  depended  for  their 
existence  on  the  provincial  spirit  have  gradually  decreased  in 
number. 

Four  institutions  for  higher  education  had  been  established 
by  1907,  the  College  of  Languages,  organized  by  the  Board  of 
Foreign  Affairs  to  train  prospective  diplomats  for  foreign  serv- 
ice, with  500  students;  the  Law  School  with  740  pupils,  still 
one  of  the  largest  schools  in  the  city;  the  Higher  Technical 

1  See  Appendix  for  complete  curriculum.  The  curriculum  for  girls  is  the  same 
except  that  they  have  two  hours  a  week  less  work  than  the  boys,  omitting  one  hour 
of  handwork  and  one  of  drawing. 


EDUCATION  131 

School  with  200  students,  and  the  University,  with  preparatory 
and  college  departments  enrolling  400  students. 

Although  teachers  were  at  first  trained  by  "short  courses," 
by  1907  a  number  of  normal  schools  with  four  or  five  year 
courses  had  been  established.  The  subjects  taught  included 
psychology  and  pedagogy  as  well  as  those  designed  to  fit  a  man 
to  teach  the  required  work  in  the  government  schools  of  pri- 
mary grade,  arithmetic,  history,  nature  study,  science  and  manual 
training.  The  pupils  of  these  schools  were,  many  of  them, 
middle-aged  or  old  men  who  had  been  teachers  of  the  Chinese 
Classics  and  it  was  interesting  to  see  these  products  of  old  China, 
of  pedantic  walk  and  goggled  eyes,  working  at  a  carpenter's 
bench,  squinting  along  a  piece  of  wood  and  doing  it  all  with  the 
utmost  seriousness. 

There  was  also  a  movement  among  well-known  Peking  phil- 
anthropists to  establish  a  system  of  industrial  education  and  by 
1907  there  were  seven  industrial  schools  in  the  city.  One  of 
these  erected  in  1906  by  the  Board  of  Commerce  at  a  cost  of 
taels  100,000  ($70,000  gold)  had  500  pupils  and  taught  spin- 
ning, weaving,  glass  blowing,  well  digging,  dyeing,  carpentry, 
leather  working,  lacquering,  rattan  work,  drawing  and  embroid- 
ery, using  Japanese  teachers  for  the  most  part.  For  some  unac- 
countable reason  this  flourishing  movement  for  industrial  educa- 
tion has  not  made  much  progress  and  the  present  day  industrial 
institutions  are  much  less  pretentious  than  those  originally  started 
under  private  or  government  auspices. 

Athletics  were  introduced  into  the  schools  but  the  teachers 
were  all  army  men  so  that  even  up  to  the  present  time  most  of 
the  physical  work  in  the  Peking  schools  is  of  a  formal  nature 
with  very  few  games  or  recreational  features. 

When  many  of  the  schools  were  first  organized,  there  being 
no  Chinese  teachers  available,  many  Japanese  were  employed, 
particularly  in  those  schools  where  modern  science  was  taught. 
For  the  most  part,  however,  they  were  kept  just  as  short  a  time 
as  possible.  Chinese  prejudice  was  naturally  against  them,  their 
teaching  was  many  times  inefficient  and  consequently  they  were 
gradually  displaced  as  the  number  of  Chinese  returned  students, 
those  who  had  studied  in  a  foreign  country,  increased.  Most 
of  them  had  gone  by  1910. 

Clippings  from  the  only  newspaper  published  in  Peking  in 
1905  and  1906  concerning  the  opening  of  new  private  or  govern- 
ment schools,  petitions  to  the  Government  from  private  indi- 
viduals urging  that  various  kinds  of  industrial  institutions  be 
started,  news  regarding  the  expansion  of  schools  and  other 
matters  of  educational  interest  show  the  tremendous  public 
interest  in  educational  development  at  that  time  as  contrasted 


132  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

with  present  conditions.  Now  the  seventy-odd  Peking  news- 
papers publish  military  and  political  news  almost  exclusively.1 

The  appointment,  by  the  viceroy  Yuan  Shih  K'ai,  of  Dr.  C.  V. 
Tenney,  formerly  of  the  American  Board  Mission,  as  educational 
adviser  for  Chihli  Province  gave  a  tremendous  impetus  to  educa- 
tional work  in  the  province  and  the  organization  of  a  provincial 
school  system. 

As  now  organized  the  government  educational  system  includes 
lower  primary  schools  with  a  four  year  course,  higher  primary 
schools  with  a  three  year  course,  middle  schools  with  four  years, 
university  preparatory  with  two  years,  university  with  three 
years  and  special  schools  with  courses  of  various  lengths. 

ORGANIZATION    OF   EDUCATIONAL    WORK    IN    PEKING 

The  organization  of  Peking's  educational  work  is  most  com- 
plicated. Certain  schools,  mostly  those  of  higher  grade,  are 
financed  and  controlled  by  the  National  Board  of  Education. 
The  Local  Board  of  Education  is  responsible  for  most  of  the 
primary  and  middle  schools  but  there  are  also  13  other  govern- 
ment boards  including  8  departments  of  the  Cabinet,  the  Board 
of  Revenue,  the  Bureau  of  Mongolia  and  Tibet,  the  Metropoli- 
tan District,  the  Military  Guard  and  the  police  that  have  one  or 
more  schools  in  Peking,  none  of  which  have  any  direct  connection 
with  the  National  or  Local  Boards  of  Education.  Then,  too,  the 
foreign  mission  forces  have  an  entire  educational  system  from 
kindergarten  to  university. 

In  general  the  schools  may  be  divided  as  follows : 

1.  Those  under  the  National  Board  of  Education 

2.  Those  under  other  government  boards 

3.  Those  under  the  Local  Board  of  Education 

4.  Private  schools  supervised  and  often  partially  financed 

by  the  Local  Board  of  Education 

5.  Independent  private  schools 

6.  Police  schools 

7.  Mission  schools 

In  1919  government  and  private  schools  in  Peking  numbered 
324.  Of  these  28  are  of  university  or  college  grade,  18  are 
middle  or  college  preparatory  schools,  5  are  supplementary  and 
7  special  schools.  Higher  primary  schools  number  57,  lower 
primaries  143,  half-day  schools  54,  and  others  of  lower  grade  10. 
There  are  also  91  primary  schools  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
Peking  that  are  under  the  Local  Board  of  Education.  Schools  for 
girls  number  but  38,  five  of  higher  grade,  32  of  primary  grade, 
one  kindergarten. 

1  See  Appendix  for  detailed  clippings. 


EDUCATION  133 

The  number  of  students  in  Peking  as  given  by  the  Minister 
of  Education  was  approximately  55,000  of  which  some  7,000 
were  women  and  girls.  Men  in  the  government  schools  of 
middle  and  higher  grade  number  13,770  and  the  women  638. 
The  detailed  figures  for  each  of  the  higher  schools  are  given 
in  the  key  to  the  Map. 

The  mission  schools  number  no  of  which  32  are  of  middle 
or  higher  grade  schools.  In  all  of  Peking's  middle  and  higher 
in  the  mission  schools,  3,789  men  and  boys  and  2,118  women 
and  girls.  Of  these  1,818  men  and  653  women  are  in  the  middle 
or  higher  grade  schools.  In  all  of  Peking's  midddle  and  higher 
schools  there  are  16,879  students,  15,588  men  and  1,291  women. 

The  1917  report  of  the  Board  of  Education  gives  the  1915-16 
expenditure  for  education  in  Peking  as  $1,894,433  of  which  four- 
fifths  was  spent  for  higher  education.  The  expenses  per  student 
amounted  to  only  $3.93  in  the  lower  primary  schools,  to  $42.63 
in  the  higher  primary  and  in  the  middle  schools  to  $76.26. 
University  and  professional  schools  cost  from  $294  to  $362  per 
student.2 

The  budget  of  the  Local  Board  of  Education  amounted  to 
$33>997  a  month,  $3,847  for  general  supervision,  $19,450  for 
primary  schools,  including  $650  a  month  subsidy  to  private 
schools,  $8,000  for  middle  schools  and  $1,500  for  social  or  exten- 
sion education,  lecture  halls,  libraries,  newspaper  reading  rooms, 
etc. 

The  salaries  paid  by  the  Board  of  Education  are:  lower  pri- 
mary school  teachers  $24  a  month,  principals  $36 ;  higher  primary 
teachers  $32,  principals  $40.  When  the  local  board  gives  aid 
to  a  private  school  the  amount  is  ordinarily  $4-$5  a  month  for 
a  lower  primary  teacher  and  $8-$i2  for  a  teacher  in  a  higher 
primary  school.  Tuition  in  the  schools  under  the  Local  Board  of 
Education  varies  from  40  cents  to  $i  a  month  and  in  private 
schools  from  $i  to  $2  a  month. 

In  1916  $45,149,844  was  spent  for  education  in  the  129,739 
schools  in  all  of  China ;  the  teachers  numbered  200,440  of  whom 
1,464  were  in  Peking,  and  the  pupils  4,294,251.  Although  only 
one  out  of  29  of  the  children  of  school  age  are  in  school 
the  fact  that  China  can  build  in  eleven  years  an  educational 
system  that  will  care  for  over  four  million  pupils  shows  the 
ability  of  the  Chinese  to  put  through  a  plan  when  once  they  are 
convinced  of  its  value.  In  spite  of  the  needs  and  defects  that 
might  be  pointed  out,  the  chief  of  which  is  perhaps  the  lack  of 
„  development  of  educational  opportunities  for  girls,  there  being- 
only  180,949  girl  students  as  compared  with  4,133,302  boys,  China 

1  Catholic  schools  and  students  are  included  only  in  totals.  Segregation  cannot 
be  made  from  obtainable  reports. 

3  See  Appendix  for  detailed  tables. 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

KEY   TO   MAP 

COLLEGES  AND  HIGH  SCHOOLS  IN  PEKING 


GOVERNMENT   AND   PRIVATE   SCHOOLS 

KEY  STUDENTS 

I.  The  Board   of  Education: —  MEN  WOMEN 
Government  University : — 

Ui          a.  Literary   Department    599 

U2          b.  Scientific  Department  500 

U3          c.  Law   Department    890 

Ml     Women's    Normal    School  * 293 

Cl     Government  Law   College    840 

C2    National  Teachers'  College 2 660 

Aio  Fu  Shu  Middle  School 2 267 

C3     The  Higher  Technical  College   240 

C4     Agriculture  College 176 

C7     Government   Medical   School   169 

T      Midwife  Training  School  56 

C26  Art  School    79 

II.  The  Board  of  Foreign  Affairs 

C$     Russian  Language  School   150 

C6     Tsing  Hua   College   660 

III.  Board  of  Interior 

C8     Police  Officers   School    300 

IV.  Board  of  Communications 

Cg     Railroad    School    300 

Cio  Postal  and  Telegraph  School  161 

V.  Board  of  War 

U4    Military  University    80 

Ci7  The  Military  Commissariat  School   77 

Ci  I   Military  Medical  College  240 

Ci2  Veterinary   School    90 

Ci3  Government  Military  School    340 

Ci4  Ch'ing  Ho  Military  Preparatory  School 920 

Ci5  Aviation  School  34 

Ci6  Surveying  School   63 

Ci8  Military  Guard  Officers  School  (Supplementary)   800 

Ci9  Military   Guard    School    74 

VI.  Board  of  Law 

C2O  Supplementary  School  of  Laws  140 

VII.  Board  of  Finance 

C2I   Supplementary   School  of   Finance    

VIII.  Board   of  Agriculture 

C23  Agricultural    Supplementary   School    30 

E  i,  2,  3,  4,  5     Experiment  Stations    170 

IX.  Board  of  Revenue 

C22  Chinese  Customs  College  96 

X.  Bureau  of  Mongolia  and  Tibet 

C24  Mongolian  and  Tibetan  School 116 

XL     The  Metropolitan  District 

Ai     Ching  Chao   First   Middle   School 220 

1  A  middle  school,  higher  and  lower  primaries  and  kindergarten  for  girls  arc  con- 
nected with  this  school. 

1  A  higher  primary,  lower  primary  and  apprentice  school  are  connected  with  the 
Teachers  College  and  the  Fu  Shu  Middle  School. 


EDUCATION 


c,, 

PEKING  HIGHER  SCHOOLS 
>  -  Middle  Schools  (Men)  -  23  M  -  Girls'  Middle  and  Normal  Schoofcl 

"  Sd  Schot  • !  "  •  P«W«  Normal  School 

c  -  College   -27  T  -  Mid  Wife  Training  School 

o-  Women's  Medical  College  -1  u-  University 

L-.  Agricultural  Experiment  Stations  -5          w  -  Yen  Ching  College,  Women's  Dep't ,  Peking  UnV 
+With  letters  signifies  Mission  School 

Figure  14 


136  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

KEY  GOVERNMENT  AND  PRIVATE  SCHOOLS — Continued  STUDENTS 

VTT       T;       jM-r,  r         -r  MEN  W°MEN 

XII.  i  he  Military  Guard 

€27  Military  Official  School Closed 

XIII.  Local  Board  of  Education  (Middle  and  special 

schools) 

N      Peking  Normal   School    267 

A2    First  Middle  School   300 

A3    Second   Middle   School    165 

A4    Third  Middle   School    145 

AS    Fourth  Middle  School  205 

A6    First  Apprentice   School    100 

M2    First  Girl's  Middle  School  212 

XIV.  Private  Schools 

US    Ch'ao  Yang  University   230 

Ai5  Hsin  Hua  Commercial  School  94 

C25  Central   School   of   Politics    300 

U6    China   University    1300 

XV.  Private  Schools  Partially  Supported  or  Super- 

vised by  the  Local  Board  of  Education 

A7    Shantung  Middle  School   92 

A8    An  Huei  Middle   School    50 

Ap    Cheng  Chih  Middle  School   290 

An  Chung  Hua  Middle  School   (with  China  Univ.) 150 

M3    Shang  Yi  Girls  Normal  School  (Normal  Dept.  40) 120 

Ai2  Ch'i  Shih  Middle  School  270 

Ai3  Chi  Fu  Middle  School   150 

Ai4  Cha  Chung  Agricultural  School     

B      Blind   School    16 

Ai6  Yu  Ying   Middle   School    124 

13,729       681 

PROTESTANT   MISSION   SCHOOLS 
/pip 

I.    Universities  MEN  WOMEN 

U+        Men 

a.  Peking  University  (Union)   (1888)   (1915)...    85 
W  -h        Women 

a.  North  China  Union  Women's  College  (Union) 

(1905)    74 

II.    Medical  Schools 
C  +  i    Men 

a.  Union      Medical      College      (co-educational) 

(China  Medical  Board)  40  3 

D  -f        Women 

a.  North  China  Women's  Union  Medical  College 

(Union)   (1908)   35 

III.    Technical  or  Higher  Schools 

U  -f-        Union  Theological  Seminary  (Union)    2O 

C  -f  3    Bible  Training   School   for   Men    (Union)    

M  +  7  "    Women    (Union) 

(1913)   40 

C  +  4    Bible  Training  School  for  Men  (M)   61 

M  -f  9  "    Women    (M)     50 

C  +  7    Nurses'  Training  School  for  Men  (M)   20 

M -I-  10       "  "  "         "    Women    (Union)...  25 


EDUCATION  137 

PROTESTANT  MISSION  SCHOOLS — Continued 

KEY  MEN   WOMEN 

A  +  5    Peking   Union   Normal    School    (co-educational) 

(Union)    (1918)    7          « 

M  +  4    Kindergarten  Training  School   (Union)    (1904)..  17 

C  +  2    School  of  Commerce  and  Finance  Y.  M.  C.  A 380 

C  +  5    Theological  Seminary  (M)      27 

C  +  6  (A)    4 

A  +  i     Huei     Wen     College     Preparatory    and     Middle 

School   (M)    629 

IV.    Middle  Schools 
Boys 


A  +  2    Ts'ui  Wen  Middle  School  (L)  .. 70 

A  -f  3    Truth    Hall    Middle    School    (P)     63 

A  +  4    Ch'ung  Te  Middle  School  (A)   57 


A  +  3    Industrial  Training  Middle  School   (P)    25 

A  +  6    Night  School  (English)   (Y.  M.  C.  A.)   270 

A  +  7                                           2   (M)    60 

Girls 

M+i     Bridgeman  Academy   (AB)    120 

M  +  ii  Educational  Classes  ( Y.  W.  C.  A.)   50 

M  +  2    Tu  Chih  Girls'  School  (A)   25 

M  -f  5    P'ei  Hua  Girls'  School  (A)   S3 

M  -f  3    Mary  Porter  Gamewell  School  for  Girls  (M)  ....  55 

M  4-  7    Ts'ui  Wen  Girls'  School  (L)   10 

M  +  8    Ming  Lun  Women's  School  (AB)    22 

M  +  6    Presbyterian  Middle  School  (P) 63 

Total  1818      653 

A  :=  Anglican   Mission 
AB  =  American  Board  Mission 
L  =  London    Mission 
M  —  Methodist   Episcopal   Mission 
P  =  Presbyterian   Mission 

can  well  be  proud  of  her  school  system  and  the  progress  that 
has  been  made  since  1905. 

THE   NATIONAL   BOARD   OF   EDUCATION 

Before  1902  there  was  no  government  board  directly  respon- 
sible for  the  promotion  of  education.  The  classical  examinations 
were  the  only  contact  that  the  Government  had  with  the  educa- 
tional system  and  the  money  needed  for  them  was  supplied  by  the 
Board  of  Finance  (Hu  Pu).  The  Board  of  Education  (Hsueh 
Pu)  was  first  established  in  1902;  in  1905  an  organization  similar 
to  the  present  one  was  developed  within  the  board  and  in  1911, 
the  last  year  of  the  reign  of  Hsuan  T'ung,  the  board  was  reor- 
ganized and  given  its  present  name,  Chiao  Yii  Pu. 

According  to  the  regulations  of  the  National  Board  of  Edu- 
cation its  field  is  general  education,  technical  and  fine  arts,  and 
astronomical  calculations.  The  present  board  has  four  depart- 


138 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


BOYS'  PRIMARY  SCHOOLS 
A-  Public  Higher  Primaries -32  x-  Bannermen  Lower  Primaries-13 

•  -  Private  Higher  Primaries -9  o  -  Half  Dav  School -I 

•  -  Public  Lower  Primaries -69  *-  Kindergarten -1 
*-  Private  Lower  Primaries -125  x-  Industrial  Schools -2 

•  -  Bannermen  Higher  Primaries -8  •-  Continuation  Schools-3 

I -Blind  Schools -1 

Figure  15 

ments — General  Supervision,  General  Education,  Special  Higher 
Education,  Social  Education. 

The  Department  of  General  Supervision  has  under  its  juris- 
diction the  schools  directly  under  the  Board  of  Education  and 
the  public  schools ;  school  hygiene ;  school  libraries  and  museums ; 


EDUCATION 


139 


GIRLS'  PRIMARY  SCHOOLS 
G  -  Public  Higher  Primary  Schools  -  6 
0  -  Private  Higher  Primary  Schools  -  7 
P  -  Public  Lower  Primary  Schools  -6 
R  -  Private  Lower  Primary  Schools  - 13 

Figure  16 


meetings  of  educational  societies;  exhibits;  all  regular  expenses, 
estimates,  final  budgets  and  accounts  of  the  board;  the  regular 
school  expenses ;  the  auditing  of  the  accounts  of  the  government 
educational  institutions  under  the  Board  of  Education;  the  care 
of  property  belonging  to  the  Board  of  Education;  composing, 
compiling,  filing,  receiving  and  sending  of  letters  and  documents; 
the  making  of  statistical  tables,  reports  and  records;  keeping 


140  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

of  seals ;  any  business  of  the  board  that  does  not  belong  to  the 
other  departments. 

The  Department  of  General  Education  controls  all  lower 
normal  schools,  middle  schools,  primary  schools,  kindergartens, 
schools  for  the  blind  and  dumb,  special  schools  for  cripples  and 
schools  whose  work  is  equivalent  to  the  above.  It  is  its  duty 
to  see  that  schools  are  provided  for  boys  of  school  age.  It  is 
also  responsible  for  the  examination  of  teachers,  the  supervision 
of  private  schools,  giving  subsidies  to  private  schools,  and  estab- 
lishing and  improving  local  boards  of  education. 

The  Department  of  Special  Higher  Education  supervises  uni- 
versities, special  higher  schools  and  all  others  with  work  of  an 
equivalent  grade.  It  is  also  in  charge  of  industrial  education, 
students  abroad,  astronomical  calculations,  the  meetings  of  men 
holding  degrees,  the  unification  of  the  Chinese  language,  the 
appointment  and  supervision  of  committees  for  examining  doc- 
tors of  medicine  and  pharmacists,  the  supervision  of  societies 
for  science  or  art,  and  the  awarding  of  higher  degrees. 

The  Department  of  Social  Education  is  responsible  for  the 
development  and  control  of  popular  social  educational  meetings, 
education  calculated  to  help  in  moral  reform  and  social  progress, 
for  the  regulation  of  popular  rights  and  observances,  the  promo- 
tion of  art  and  music,  the  supervision  of  theatrical  plays  and  art 
galleries  and  exhibits,  education  on  zoological  and  botanical  lines, 
the  training  of  supervisors  of  zoological  and  botanical  gardens, 
the  establishment  and  oversight  of  museums  and  libraries,  popu- 
lar exhibits  and  reading  rooms,  athletic  grounds  and  amuse- 
ments. 

The  Board  of  Education  has,  of  course,  no  control  over  the 
schools  that  have  been  established  by  other  government  boards. 
It  is  even  said  that  there  is  considerable  jealousy  between  the 
boards  and  that  it  is  often  impossible  for  the  Board  of  Education 
to  get  a  report  from  some  boards  concerning  their  educational 
work. 

THE   LOCAL   BOARD    OF   EDUCATION 

The  Local  Board  of  Education  is  closely  related  to  and  sup- 
plements the  work  of  the  National  Board  inasmuch  as  its  head 
is  appointed  by  the  National  Board  and  it  is  in  charge  of  all 
middle  schools,  normal  schools  that  are  not  above  middle  school 
grade,  and  all  schools  below  the  middle  school  grade,  including 
higher  primary,  primary,  kindergarten,  technical  art  schools, 
schools  for  the  blind,  and  special  agricultural  demonstration 
stations  in  Peking  and  immediate  vicinity.  It  also  supervises 
the  lecture  halls,  newspaper  rooms  and  libraries,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Model  Lecture  Hall  and  the  First  Public  Library. 


EDUCATION  141 

They  are  under  the  National  Board  of  Education.  The  local 
board  also  supervises  practically  all  of  the  private  schools  main- 
tained by  the  Chinese  and  subsidizes  many  of  them.  Naturally 
there  is  ordinarily  no  connection  between  the  Board  of  Education 
and  the  mission  schools,  but  even  so  the  Yii  Ying,  a  Catholic 
school,  is  listed  as  under  the  supervision  of  the  board. 

Soon  after  1902  the  local  board  established  a  system  of  school 
inspectors  (Chuan  Hsueh  Yuan)  to  see  that  children  of  school 
age  attended  school,  that  the  government  schools  were  properly 
conducted,  and  that  private  schools  that  received  partial  govern- 
ment support  were  up  to  the  required  standard.  Under  this 
system  every  police  district  in  the  city  had  its  inspectors  and 
inspectors'  headquarters,  but  in  1905  the  city  inspection  work 
was  centralized  with  headquarters  across  the  street  from  the 
Local  Board  of  Education.  The  district  inspection,  however,  was 
maintained  for  the  schools  outside  of  the  city  and  there  are  now 
four  school  inspectors  with  special  offices  outside  the  walls,  one 
on  each  side  of  the  city. 

The  regulations  for  the  inspectors'  office  outside  the  South 
City  wall,  which  are  typical  of  all  four  districts,  give  the  monthly 
budget  of  the  inspector  as  $132,  of  which  $60  is  for  salary. 
The  inspector  is  instructed  to  give  $72  a  year  to  the  one  higher 
primary  school  in  his  district  and  $48  a  year  to  ten  of  the  lower 
primary  schools.  Two  lower  primary  schools  receive  no  financial 
assistance. 


IDEALS   OF   EDUCATION   IN    CHINA 

If  the  educational  ideals  of  the  Government  were  judged  by 
the  statement  given  in  the  regulations  of  the  National  Board 
of  Education,  one  would  conclude  that  the  educational  system 
in  China  was  most  modern  and  progressive.  That  these  ideals 
have  not,  as  yet,  been  fully  incorporated  in  the  actual  educational 
program  is,  of  course,  not  altogether  the  fault  of  the  Chinese 
Government.  The  whole  educational  system  has  had  to  be  built 
up  in  a  few  years,  it  has  been  absolutely  impossible  to  develop 
well  trained  modern  teachers  fast  enough  to  meet  the  needs  of 
the  rapidly  increasing  schools  and  furthermore  in  a  country  that 
is  constantly  in  a  state  of  political  disturbance  and  where  the 
national  revenue  has  not  reached  the  point  where  it  is  sufficient 
even  to  pay  the  bills  of  the  national  army,  one  would  not  expect 
rapid  progress  in  education.  The  ideals  of  the  board,  however, 
are  worthy  of  note,  for  if  the  objectives  of  education  are  sound 
it  is  to  be  expected  that  conditions  will  gradually  improve. 

A  careful  study  of  the  detailed  regulations  for  the  higher  and 
lower  primary  schools  drawn  up  in  1916  shows  that  the  following 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

points  are  especially  emphasized  in  the  educational  ideals  of  the 
Government. 

1.  There  is  a  conscious  desire  that  education  shall  develop  the  child 
in  a  symmetrical   manner,  mentally,   morally,   and  physically.     To  quote 
the  regulations  for  the  lower  primary  schools :     "Education  is  of  great 
importance  to  promote  the  bodily   (shen)   and  spiritual    (hsin)    develop- 
ment of  school  children.     Training  of  the  body,  training  in  knowledge, 
and  training  of  the  emotions  and  will  are  to  be  given  simultaneously  and 
with   equal   emphasis   so  that  the  children  may  develop  symmetrically." 
This  aim  is  amplified  in  the  regulations  of  the  higher  primary  schools 
which  state  that  education  should 

(a)  Develop  the  children  physically  and  morally. 

(b)  Give  the  children  knowledge  that  is  suited  to  the  conditions 

.of  their  lives. 

(c)  Cultivate  patriotism  and  public  spirit. 

(d)  Provide  the  children  with  sufficient  knowledge  and  school- 

ing that  they  may  be  able  to  earn  a  livelihood. 

2.  The    moral    aim    of    education    is    given    a    central    place    in    the 
school    regulations.    Ethics    is    always    mentioned    first    in    all    lists    of 
studies. 

3.  Physical  education  is  given  a  prominent  place  in  the   discussion 
of  the  objectives  of  education,  although  the  main  emphasis  is  on  drill 
rather  than  recreation.     Schools  are  urged  to  provide  playgrounds 1  and 
regulations  are  given  regarding  the  physical  care  of  the  children.3    Chil- 
dren having  infectious  diseases  are  not  allowed  to  attend  school  and  the 
schools  are  to  avoid  conditions  that  are  productive  of  disease. 

4.  There  is  in  the  regulations  a  prominent  emphasis  on  the  cultivation 
of  patriotism.    After  discussing  the  materials  to  be  used   in  industrial 
education  the  statement  is  made:     "When  taking  up  this  subject  of  the 
natural  resources  of  China,  it  must  be  dealt  with  in  a  way  that  will  arouse 
in  the  hearts  of  the  children  a  spirit  of  intense  national  pride."8    Ele- 
mentary civics  is  to  be  taught  in  the  second  year  of  the  higher  primary 
school   from  a  book  called   "What   Citizens    Should   Know,"   which   de- 
scribes the  organization  of  the  government  and  gives  an  outline  of  the 
executive,  judiciary  and  legislative  departments. 

5.  In  contrast  to  the  former  attitude  on  education  embodied  in  the 
system  which  emphasized  the  value  of  memorizing  a  great  amount  of 
material  without  clear  understanding,  these  statements  should  be  noted: 
"The  main  point  in  studying  Chinese  literature  is  so  to  train  the  children 
in  general  language  and  writing  that  they  may  attain  knowledge  which 
will  fit  them  to  deal  with  general  ideas  and  tendencies.     The  final  ob- 
jective is  that  character  may  be  developed  in  children."    "Text-books  that 
are  used  must  be  simple,  that  they  may  facilitate  a  clear  understanding, 
and  they  must  not  be  so  theoretical   as  to  make  practice   difficult  and 
impossible.    What  they  teach  must  be  worthy  of  imitation  and  pursuance, 
and   what   they   contain   must   be   interesting  and   indispensable   for   the 
earning  of  a  living.     Of  course,  different   sorts  of  text-books  must  be 
used   for  different   subjects,   but  they  must   in   general   be  composed  of 
materials  conforming  to  the  above-mentioned  ideals."* 

1  Regulations  for  Lower  Primary  Schools.     Sec.  20. 

*  Ibid.     Sec.   28. 
•Ibid.     Sec.   n. 

*  Regulations  for  Higher  Primary  Schools.     Sec.  4. 


EDUCATION  143 

6.  Industrial   education   has    a   prominent   place   in   the   regulations. 
This  is  especially  true  in  the  case  of  education  for  girls.    They  are  to  be 
taught  sewing,  house  management,  and  accounts.     "The  main  objective 
of   hand   work   is   to   train   the   children   in   the   cutting  and    sewing  of 
ordinary  dresses,  thus  teaching  them  thrift  and  usefulness.    The  way  to 
use  needles  must  be  taught  first  and  easy  methods  of  sewing  and  basting. 
Materials  used  for  sewing  must  be  things  in  common  use."1     There  is 
practically  nothing  stated  concerning  the  actual  subjects  to  be  taught  to 
boys   along   industrial   lines   but  there   are   sections   on   materials   to  be 
used  in  industrial   education,   viz.,   "The  main  point  in  the  teaching  of 
hand  work  is  to  train  children  to  make  useful  things,  so  that  they  will 
become  industrious  and  used  to  manual  labor.    At  the  same  time  they 
will  become  interested  in  the  technical  arts.     They  are  to  be  taught  to 
make  things  of  the  following  materials :  paper,  silk,  cement,  grass,  bamboo 
and  wood.     They  should  make  things  that  are  already  being  locally  pro- 
duced."    "When  teaching  handwork,  explanation  should  be  given  of  the 
kinds  of  materials  as  well  as  the  use  of  the  manufactured  articles.    The 
raw  materials  used  are  to  be  those  used  in  local  industry,  so  that  the 
children  may  be  familiar  with  local  conditions  and  prepared  to  take  a 
part  in  the  industrial  life  of  their  community."2 

7.  There  is  in  all  the  regulations  a  strong  emphasis   regarding  the 
teaching  of  subjects  in  their  practical  application.     For  example:     "The 
principles  of  arithmetic  should  concern  problems  which  have  practical  use 
and  should  be  adapted  to  local  conditions."  * 

8.  The    democratic    control    of    the    schools    is    carefully   explained. 
"The  number  and  location  of  national  schools  in  a  district  are  to  be 
fixed    by    a    joint    meeting    of    the    self-government    association    and    a 
committee  of  the  Board  of  Education  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
local  magistrate."* 

That  these  above-enumerated  ideals  are  not  all  incorporated 
in  the  present  educational  system  is  brought  out  in  an  article 
by  Mr.  David  Z.  T.  Yui 5  in  which  he  summarizes  the  defects 
of  the  present  educational  system  in  China  as  follows : 

Defect  i.  No  definite  objective. — A  boy  or  girl  receiving  government 
education  becomes  more  unfit  for  life  than  before.  It  is  no  secret  to  say 
that  most  of  the  graduates  of  the  higher  schools  secure  employment  in 
government  offices,  where  their  education  is  as  far  removed  from  prac- 
tical use  as  the  distance  from  the  north  to  the  south  pole.  Then  again 
education  in  China  is  merely  ornamental  and  has  no  connection  with 
practical  life. 

Defect  2.  Physical  training  sadly  neglected. — Although  the  new  system 
of  education  theoretically  emphasizes  athletics,  many  of  the  teachers  in 
the  country  districts  do  not  follow  this  theory,  because  of  their  traditional 
idea  of  the  scholar  as  a  man  who  pays  attention  only  to  his  intellect  and 
takes  no  interest  in  his  physical  development. 

Defect  3.  Intellectual  training  is  lop-sided.— Educational  work  is  still 
largely  a  training  of  the  memory  rather  than  of  thought  processes.  The 
tendency  is  to  emphasize  theory  rather  than  practice. 

Defect  4.    Moral  training  is  very  defective  and  in  many  places  sadly 

*lbid.,  Sec.  10. 

*Ibid.,  Sec.  6. 

1  Ibid.,  Sec.  5. 

1  Regulations  of  the  Lower  Primary  Schools.     Sec.  6. 

"The  New  Emphasis  on  Education  in  China,"  The  Special  Anniversary  Supple- 
ment of  the  Peking  Leader  (1918). 


144  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

neglected. — The  Chinese  educators  have  not  yet  found  out  how  to  teach 
ethics  suitable  for  the  modern  age  in  China. 

Defect  5.  Meager  training  for  citizenship. — Under  the  Manchu 
dynasty  such  training  was  feared  by  those  in  power,  for  they  wished  to 
keep  the  people  in  dense  ignorance  regarding  their  rights  of  citizenship. 
Since  the  founding  of  the  Republic,  the  attention  of  the  authorities  has 
been  absorbed  in  other  things  than  education.  What  emphasis  has  been 
laid  on  patriotism  is  of  a  very  intense  and  narrow  kind.  Boys  and  girls 
are  taught  to  love  China  and  nothing  more.  There  is  a  need  to  train 
young  people  for  citizenship  in  the  world. 

Defect  6.  Lack  of  a  clear  understanding  of  what  the  educational 
processes  mean. — Because  of  the  lack  of  a  clear  aim  on  the  part  of  edu- 
cational authorities,  fathers  and  mothers  are  beginning  to  distrust  educa- 
tion. They  do  not  see  what  their  children  are  being  trained  for.  Further- 
more many  educators  look  at  teaching  as  merely  a  stepping-stone  to 
official  or  other  positions. 

In  the  same  year  book  Prof.  L.  R.  O.  Bevan,  of  the  Peking 
Government  University,  gives  us  a  much  more  optimistic  view 
of  present  education  in  China.  After  reviewing  the  statistics 
on  primary  education  of  the  last  few  years,  he  makes  this  state- 
ment: "From  this  very  slight  examination  of  the  statistics 
of  primary  education  of  the  last  few  years,  the  conclusion  would 
seem  to  be  that  the  policy  laid  down  by  the  Government  is  in 
the  right  direction  and  that  it  is  bearing  fruit,  even  though  the 
harvest  is  coming  in  slowly.  The  rate  of  increase  of  the  first 
three  years  of  the  Republic  has  not  gone  on  as  rapidly  in  the 
succeeding  three  years.  This  would  naturally  be  expected.  The 
slowing  down  of  the  rate  of  progress  is  inevitable,  but  taking 
into  consideration  the  serious  political  unrest,  the  widespread 
civil  war  conditions,  and  the  consequent  severe  financial  strin- 
gency, the  fact  that  there  has  been  any  advance  at  all  is  a  real 
ground  for  optimistic  expectation  for  the  future.  Given  a  real 
political  settlement  and  a  stable  return  to  normal  experiences, 
there  is  every  reason  to  hope  for  steady  educational  advance. 
One  sees  a  larger  proportion  of  teachers  viewing  education  as 
a  profession  to  be  followed  for  its  own  sake;  one  sees  a  wider 
view  among  those  who  are  responsible  for  the  direction  of  edu- 
cation and  educational  institutions ;  one  sees  among  students  a 
more  easy  yielding  to  educational  discipline  in  all  its  forms,  and 
among  a  section  of  them  at  any  rate  a  more  earnest  pursuit  of 
what  is  offered  for  those  who  are  honestly  striving;  one  sees  a 
growing  sense  of  corporateness  in  the  individual  institutions 
themselves,  evidenced  by  the  formation  of  school  and  college 
societies  and  clubs,  magazines,  and  other  corporate  activities. 
Whether  these  are  for  sport  or  for  social  welfare  or  for  educa- 
tional advancement,  they  are  the  signs  of  a  growing  self- 
consciousness  that  the  institutions  of  the  educational  world  are 
finding  themselves  living  and  growing  organisms.  Granted  that 


EDUCATION  145 

statistics  may  be  misleading,  granted  that  these  other  evidences 
are  intangible  impressions,  perhaps,  rather  than  hard  facts,  there 
is  nevertheless  the  justification  for  those  who  look  forward  with 
expectation." 

SPECIAL    SCHOOLS    IN    PEKING 

Apprentice  School 

The  Apprentice  School  established  in  19x37  by  the  Local  Board 
of  Education  is  situated  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  North 
City  on  Pien  Tan  Hut'ung.  It  offers  a  three  year  course  in 
either  machine  work,  carpentry,  electroplating  or  soap  making. 
It  accepts  students  who  are  between  14  and  20  years  of  age 
and  can  pass  the  entrance  examination  or  who  are  graduates 
of  higher  primary  schools.  The  curriculum  of  the  school  calls 
for  39  hours  a  week  the  first  two  years  and  42  hours  the  last 
year.  The  students  spend  20  and  21  hours  in  shop  work  the  first 
two  years  and  36  the  third.  Other  subjects  include  ethics, 
English,  arithmetic,  reading,  physics  and  chemistry,  drawing 
and  designing.1  After  graduation  the  students  either  become 
apprentices  or  go  into  independent  work.  The  assistant  principal 
of  the  school  said  that  up  to  the  present  the  gilds  had  not  shown 
any  great  willingness  to  accept  the  training  of  the  schools  as 
equivalent  to  their  regular  apprenticeship  training,  although  it 
was  sometimes  done. 

This  acceptance  by  the  gilds  of  school  trained  men  is  one 
of  the  present  problems  of  industrial  education  in  Peking.  The 
men  who  have  served  an  apprenticeship  are  nearly  always  unwil- 
ling to  admit  that  the  men  from  the  schools  are  able  to  do  real 
work  and  the  students  naturally  do  not  want  to  serve  an  appren- 
ticeship of  three  years  after  their  school  training.  There  is  great 
need  for  closer  cooperation  between  the  schools  and  heads  of  tTie 
gilds  so  that  the  school  work  and  the  gild  training  and  require- 
ments may  be  coordinated. 

The  equipment  in  the  school's  machine  shop  is  modern,  and 
adapted  to  making  machinery  of  a  simple  nature,  but  the  electro- 
plating equipment  is  meager.  General  wood-work  is  taught  in 
the  carpentry  department  but  most  of  the  work  is  the  making 
of  furniture.  The  soap  made  is  of  a  coarse  and  inferior  grade. 
A  large  exhibit  room,  showing  products  of  the  different  shops, 
furniture,  various  electroplated  articles,  pumps  and  other 
machines  is  part  of  the  school  equipment. 

The  cost  of  constructing  the  Chinese  style  buildings  for  the 
school  amounted  to  $3,000  and  the  equipment  to  $8,000.  One 

1  See  Appendix  for  complete  curricula. 


146  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

foreign  teacher  is  employed  by  the  school.     The  expenses  for 
three  years  were: 

1915  $6,679-69 

1916  7,668.08 

1917  7,694-38 

Total  $22,042.15 

There  are  93  students  enrolled,  64  in  the  machine  shop,  24 
in  the  electroplating  department  and  5  in  carpentry  work.  Sixty- 
two  of  the  boys  are  from  the  Peking  district  and  31  from  other 
provinces. 

A  study  of  the  occupations  of  the  boys'  fathers  shows  that 
the  largest  number  (20)  are  officials,  14  are  merchants  and  14 
soldiers ;  only  3  are  farmers  and  7  scholars. 

Of  the  students,  5  are  graduates  of  middle  or  higher  schools, 
30  are  graduates  or  students  of  higher  primary  schools,  43  are 
graduates  of  lower  primary  schools,  while  15  have  not  completed 
the  lower  primary  course  of  study. 

The  school  has  no  'entrance  or  tuition  fees,  but  does  charge 
for  text-books,  instruments,  uniform,  and  stationery,  $7.45  for 
the  first  year,  $6.80  for  the  second  year  and  $5  for  the  third  year. 

The  First  Public  Blind  School  of  Peking 

The  blind  in  Peking  number  something  over  1,300  or  one- 
sixth  of  one  percent  of  the  population.  In  all  of  China  it  is 
estimated  that  there  are  at  least  1,000,000  blind  or  one-quarter 
of  one  percent.  In  the  past  blind  men  have  been  trained  in 
singing  and  story  telling  but  have  not  had  any  system  whereby 
it  was  possible  for  them  to  read.  E.  G.  Hillier,  Esq.,  manager  of 
the  Peking  branch  of  the  Hongkong  and  Shanghai  Banking 
Corporation,  himself  blind,  has  worked  out  a  Braille  system  for 
the  Chinese  Mandarin,  basing  the  system  on  the  Kuan  Hua  Tzu 
Mu  or  phonetic  alphabet  of  50  radicals  and  12  phonetics  as  invented 
about  1898  by  a  Han  lin  scholar.  For  practical  purposes  the 
number  of  signs  has  been  reduced  to  57  in  the  Braille. 

In  1917  Mr.  Hillier  and  a  group  of  his  friends,  Chinese  and 
foreign,  opened"  the  first  Public  Blind  School.  This  school  now 
has  an  enrollment  of  14  students  and  teaches  ethics,  Chinese 
literature,  arithmetic  and  handwork,  the  latter  being  for  the  most 
part  the  making  of  rattan  furniture. 

The  students  are  charged  no  tuition,  even  their  school  sup- 
plies being  furnished.  The  school  is  supported  by  private  con- 
tribution and  a  grant  of  $50  a  month  from  the  Local  Board  of 
Education. 


EDUCATION  147 

The  Actors'  Apprentice  School 

The  actors'  apprentice  school,  a  private  institution,  was 
founded  by  Chang  Chi  Chih  at  the  Nan  Tung  Park  "to  train 
actors  and  help  in  public  education/'  Its  teachers  are  famous 
actors  and  its  course  one  of  seven  years.  The  boys  must  be 
between  10  and  12  years  of  age  when  they  enter  the  school. 
At  present  the  school  has  60  students  and  as  the  boys  are  given 
their  food  and  clothing  and  after  the  fifth  year  a  special  allow- 
ance if  they  have  done  well  in  their  studies,  there  is  a  waiting 
list  of  some  sixty. 

Police  Poor  Schools 

Realizing  that  between  three  and  four-tenths  of  the  boys  of 
school  age  in  Peking  have  no  opportunity  of  attending  school,  the 
head  of  the  Police  Board  in  1915  notified  the  heads  of  the 
twenty  districts  in  Peking  to  found  half-day  schools  for  poor 
boys.  There  are  at  present  53  such  schools  in  Peking,  in  which 
over  4,000  boys  are  being  educated.  The  curriculum  is  similar 
to  that  of  the  lower  primary  schools,  the  emphasis  being  laid  on 
ethics,  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  and  physical  exercise.  In 
the  past  the  teachers  in  these  schools  were  police  officers  who 
had  done  particularly  well,  but  recently,  because  of  their  failure 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  their  positions,  an  examination  was 
held  for  all  the  teachers  and  the  teaching  force  was  reorganized. 
In  the  future  all  teachers  are  to  be  secured  by  competitive 
examination.  Part  of  the  budget  is  met  by  the  police  and  part 
by  the  contributions  of  those  who  live  in  the  districts  around 
the  schools. 

SOCIAL  EDUCATION 
LECTURE    HALLS  * 

Giving  new  ideas  to  her  citizens  has  been  one  of  China's 
great  problems,  particularly  since  such  a  large  proportion  of 
the  people  are  unable  to  read.  Information  has  had  to  travel, 
very  largely,  by  word  of  mouth  so  it  is  but  natural  that  regularly 
trained  lecturers  should  have  been  used  to  spread  general  infor- 
mation and  the  ideas  the  Government  wanted  the  people  to  have. 
The  Manchus  made  use  of  them  and  even  now  in  some  of  the 
country  districts  lecturers  can  be  found  who  are  still  using  the 
imperial  tablet  that  prior  to  1911  was  the  sign  of  their  connection 
with  the  Government. 

Shortly  after  the  beginning  of  the  educational  revolution  in 
1902  many  private  lecture  halls  were  opened  in  Peking  to  give 

1  §ee  map  of  Extension  Education. 


148  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

the  people  some  idea  of  the  new  thought  of  the  educated  men  of 
the  country  and  newspaper  reading  roms  were  often  opened 
in  connection  with  the  lecture  halls.  A  clipping  from  the  Peking 
Jih  Pao  of  1905  shows  something  of  the  popular  interest  in  this 
form  of  social  education :  "A  public  newspaper  reading  room 
has  been  opened  in  the  West  City  by  a  Honanese  named  General 
Chang.  He  feels  that  the  reading  of  newspapers  is  the  best  way 
to  do  away  with  the  ignorance  of  the  people.  General  Chang 
has  subscribed  $50  for  the  expenses  of  the  opening  of  this 
reading  room  and  also  $100  for  its  enlargement.  He  expects  to 
found  several  other  similar  rooms/'  The  number  of  private 
lecture  halls  grew  very  rapidly  after  1905  and  again  after  1911 
when  the  Revolution  brought  to  the  front  a  great  many  ideas 
unfamiliar  to  the  people,  but  since  things  have  settled  down  the 
private  lecture  halls  have  gradually  been  discontinued  until  now 
there  are  none  in  Peking.  The  Government  is  doing  all  the 
lecture  work  in  the  city. 

At  present  there  are  thirteen  centers  in  Peking  where  lec- 
tures are  given  every  day,  ten  inside  the  walls  and  three  in  the 
suburbs.  There  is  also  a  special  team  of  lecturers  that  follow 
the  temple  markets  or  fairs  and  during  a  month  give  lectures  in 
eight  different  centers.  One  of  the  lecture  halls  (No.  4)  was 
opened  in  1906,  seven  were  started  in  1911,  one  in  1912,  the  Model 
Lecture  Hall  in  1915  and  the  three  in  the  suburbs  in  1916.  The 
regular  lecture  halls  are  under  the  Local  Board  of  Education  while 
the  Model  Lecture  Hall  is  under  the  National  Board  of  Educa- 
tion. They  are  all  part  of  a  national  organization,  the  government 
regulations  providing  that  four  or  more  lecture  halls  shall  be 
established  in  every  provincial  capital,  two  or  more  in  every 
hsien  city  (county  seat)  and,  in  the  villages,  as  many  as  are 
required  by  local  conditions.  Private  lecture  halls  may  be  estab- 
lished but  must  be  registered  with  the  Minister  of  Education 
within  one  month  of  their  opening.1  In  1915  there  were  2,139 
lecture  halls  in  China. 

According  to  the  regulations  every  public  lecture  hall  is  to 
have  a  director,  a  variable  number  of  lecturers  and  one  or  two 
business  managers.2  The  purpose  of  the  lecture  halls  is  to 
"educate  the  people  and  reform  society"  and  the  list  of  subjects 
to  be  covered  are : 

Patriotism 

Observance  of  Law 

Morality 

Common  Knowledge 

Friendly  and  Filial  Relations 

1  Regulations  Popular  Education  Lecture  Halls,  Arts.  2-3-4. 
3  Ibid.,  Art.   5. 


EDUCATION 


EXTENSION  EDUCATION 

*  -  Half  Day  Schools -53  A  -  Lecture  Hall  Libraries -13 

e- Libraries -5  |  -  Museums -3 

x  -  Lecture  Halls -13  •  -  Temple  Market  Lecture  Halls  -17 

Figure  17 

Development  of  Industry 
Physical  Education 
Hygiene  * 

A  careful  investigation  of  the  thirteen  lecture  halls  in  Peking 
made  by  a  member  of  the  local  Educational  Association  showed 
that  the  lecture  halls  are  housed  in  Chinese  style  buildings  that 
have  an  average  seating  capacity  of  147,  the  actual  number  vary- 
ing from  66  to  the  450  of  the  Model  Lecture  Hall.2 

1  Regulations  Popular  Education  Lecture  Halls,  Arts.   1-3. 

2  See    Appendix    for    complete    tables. 


150  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

The  average  daily  attendance  was  1,005  or  77  a*  each  lecture 
hall  but  the  Model  Lecture  Hall  was  the  only  one  that  had  over 
one  hundred  people.  It  had  an  average  attendance  of  300.  The 
study  of  the  people  coming  to  the  lecture  halls  showed  that  mem- 
bers of  the  merchant  class  are  the  ones  who  come  most  often, 
eleven  of  the  halls  reporting  that  they  are  regular  attendants. 
Common  laborers  are  the  next  largest  class  and  then  students. 
Idlers  are  said  to  be  regular  attendants  at  two  of  the  halls  and 
ex-Manchu  officials  at  one.  Civil  officials,  soldiers  and  police 
come  to  some  of  the  halls  occasionally.1 

The  lectures  are  usually  given  for  two  hours  during  the 
afternoon,  5  130-7 130,  4-6,  2-4,  7-9,  though  in  the  hall  outside 
the  East  Wall  lectures  are  given  for  four  hours  a  day  (1-5). 
Long  lectures  are  continued  on  consecutive  days  some  of  them 
taking  only  a  few  days,  others  even  two  months.  A  multitude 
of  different  subjects  are  discussed  by  the  lecturers,  all  the  way 
from  how  to  raise  chickens  or  how  to  raise  children  to  the  com- 
parison between  William  II  and  Napoleon  the  Great,  the  value 
of  a  good  reputation  and  various  aspects  of  the  European  War. 
True  to  ancient  Chinese  thought  there  is  a  preponderance  of 
preachment  on  abstract  and  general  virtue,  morality  and  patriot- 
ism. There  is  also  considerable  interest  in  the  European  War 
and  world  events,  education,  industry  and  social  reform.  Popu- 
lar science  is  badly  neglected  and  only  a  few  lectures  are  given 
on  historical  subjects.2  Religion  and  national  politics  the  lec- 
turers are  forbidden  to  discuss. 

The  material  for  the  lectures  is  secured  from  a  book  of 
lectures  printed  by  the  Board  of  Education,  one  published  by 
the  Educational  Society,  the  outlines  of  lectures  given  in  other 
provinces  and  notes  on  the  lectures  delivered  in  the  Model  Lec- 
ture Hall.  The  individual  lecturers  also  draw  on  their  own 
knowledge  and  reading. 

The  regulations  require  that  the  lecturers  keep  notes  on  their 
lectures  and  once  a  month  file  them  with  the  Local  Board  of 
Education  by  whom  they  are  bound  and  forwarded  to  the  Min- 
ister of  Education  for  inspection  and  reference.3 

The  lecturers,  except  in  the  Model  Lecture  Hall,  are  men 
over  25  years  of  age  who  have  either  graduated  from  the  Schools 
for  Public  Lecturers,  had  a  year  or  more  of  practice  in  lecturing, 
been  teachers  in  primary  or  lower  normal  schools,  are  officials 
of  an  Educational  Society  or  scholars  of  high  reputation.4  Each 
lecture  hall  has  two  resident  lecturers  and  there  are  several  lec- 
turers who  go  from  hall  to  hall  spending  a  day  or  two  in  each. 

1  See  Appendix  for  complete  tables. 

2  See  Appendix  for  complete  list  of  topics  discussed. 

8  Regulations   Popular  Education   Lecture   Halls,   Art.    15, 
*  Ibid.,  Art.  9. 


THE   BLIND  WORKING  FOR  THE   BLIND. 

A    school    opened    by    E.     G.     Hillier,    Esq.,    and    using    a    system    of    Chinese 
Braille    devised    by    him. 


SPREADING   IDEAS  AMONG  THE  COMMON    PEOPLE. 

Peking   Model   Lecture   Hall.      One   of   thirteen  in  the   city.     The   average  daily 
attendance  at   these  halls   is  over   1,000. 


INDUSTRIAL  EDUCATION,  NATIONAL  TEACHERS    COLLEGE,  THE  MACHINE  SHOP. 

The  students  learn  to  use  modern  machinery  as  well  as  the  ordinary  simple 
Chinese  tools.  China  can  well  be  proud  of  the  fact  that  in  eleven  years 
(1905-1916)  she  has  developed  an  educational  system  for  four  and  a  quarter 
million  students. 


M.-.XJU  «,t,JUuJill   II '  -f 


NATIONAL  TEACHERS'  COLLEGE,  THE  FORGE. 


EDUCATION  151 

The  resident  lecturers  are  paid  $10  a  month  while  the  more 
experienced  traveling  lecturers  receive  $2  an  hour  for  their  work. 

The  budgets  of  the  individual  lecture  halls  exclusive  of  the 
Model  Lecture  Hall  vary  from  $39  to  $60  a  month,  the  average 
being  $54.  This  with  the  salaries  of  the  traveling  lecturers, 
newspaper  subscriptions  and  other  expenses  makes  up  the  $910 
a  month  appropriated  by  the  Local  Board  of  Education  for  lecture 
hall  work. 

In  spite  of  the  good  showing  of  the  figures  for  average 
attendance,  types  of  people  reached  and  the  list  of  subjects 
covered,  the  investigator's  report  concerning  the  spirit  in  which 
the  lectures  were  given  makes  us  doubt  the  real  effectiveness  of 
much  of  the  lecture  hall  work.  He  said: 

"The  Board  of  Education  does  not  really  take  much  interest 
in  the  lecture  halls.  They  are  conducted  as  an  official  business 
and  something  to  be  gotten  through  with.  Most  of  the  lecture 
halls  are  run  without  any  real  aim.  The  lecturers  really  wish 
to  get  out  as  large  a  crowd  as  possible  as  the  holding  of  their 
position  depends  on  a  good  outward  showing.  They  have  not, 
however,  shown  deep  interest  in  their  work." 

All  but  two  of  the  lecture  halls  are  supplied  with  a  small 
collection  of  books  and  a  few  newspapers,  4-7  in  classical  lan- 
guage and  3-6  in  the  colloquial,  that  can  be  used  by  any  one  who 
comes  in.  Ordinarily  the  lecture  halls  are  open  to  readers  from 
9  or  10  in  the  morning  until  the  lectures  are  given  in  the  after- 
noon. The  libraries  in  the  halls  inside  the  city  are  permanent 
collections  but  for  those  outside  the  walls  there  are  five  traveling 
libraries  of  100  volumes  each  that  are  moved  every  two  months. 
A  study  of  the  books  in  the  seven  lecture  hall  libraries  inside  the 
city  shows  a  total  of  1,692  volumes,  or  an  average  of  242.  Two- 
fifths  of  these  are  fiction — novels,  stories,  magazines — while  a 
little  less  than  one-third  deal  with  general  educational  subjects. 
History  and  geography,  political  science,  law  and  economics  are 
also  well  represented.1  Most  of  the  halls  also  have  educational 
pictures,  charts  and  maps  on  the  walls. 

The  people  using  the  libraries  total  on  the  average  446  a 
day,  or  37  for  each  library.  Sixty  was  the  largest  number  of 
readers  reported  by  any  one  of  the  libraries.  About  twice  as 
many  read  the  newspapers. 

Special  mention  must  be  made  of  the  Model  Lecture  Hall 
conducted  by  the  Board  of  Education,  for  it  is  the  head  of  all 
the  lecture  hall  work.  It  is  situated  on  one  of  the  busiest  streets 
in  the  South  City,  west  Chu  Shih  K'ou,  and  is  by  far  the  largest 
and  best  equipped  hall  in  the  city.  The  seating  capacity  of  the 
large  theater-like  hall  is  450  and  the  average  attendance  is  300. 

1  See  Appendix  for  complete  figures. 


152  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

Lectures  are  given  every  evening  from  7  to  9,  usually  preceded 
by  a  phonograph  concert  and  often  followed  by  moving  pictures. 

The  lecture  staff  consists  of  6  regular  and  5  special  lecturers 
whose  educational  qualifications  are  much  higher  than  those  of 
the  lecturers  in  the  other  halls.  One  is  a  graduate  of  the  law 
college  and  several  are  from  the  Paoting  Higher  Normal  School. 
The  budget  of  $700  a  month  is  paid  by  the  National  Board  of 
Education. 

The  Model  Lecture  Hall  has  a  library  of  823  volumes,  maga- 
zines and  newspapers  for  the  use  of  the  lecturers  and  visitors. 
The  largest  number  of  books  (300)  deal  with  educational  sub- 
jects. There  are  also  a  good  many  novels  and  short  stories. 
Of  biology,  hygiene,  industry,  travel,  classics  and  lectures  there 
are  less  than  65  volumes  each. 

SPECIAL    HALF-DAY   SCHOOL 

A  special  half-day  school  was  opened  in  1917  by  the  Model 
Lecture  Hall  in  a  three-room  building  just  east  of  the  lecture 
hall.  Classes  are  held  in  the  morning  from  8  to  n  with  37 
students  in  attendance.  The  course  is  for  three  years  and 
includes  moral  instruction,  reading  from  the  national  readers, 
arithmetic,  Chinese  calculation  .and  the  memorizing  of  proverbs. 
The  boys  are  also  given  industrial  work  in  making  soap,  tooth 
powder,  ink,  slate  pencils  and  chalk. 

MODEL   LECTURE   HALL   SCHOOL   FOR   THE   BLIND 

The  First  Public  Blind  School  was  also  opened  in  1917  by 
the  Model  Lecture  Hall  largely  as  the  result  of  the  starting,  by 
E.  G.  Hillier,  Esq.,  of  the  Peking  Blind  School.  The  students  are 
taught  the  Braille  system  of  reading,  and  are  given  some  literary 
education.  For  industrial  work  they  have  been  knitting  gloves, 
scarfs,  hats  and  socks.  School  hours  are  from  8  to  n  in  the 
morning  and  the  students  are  graduated  after  a  two  year  course, 
but  may  continue  their  studies  if  they  so  desire.  No  tuition  is 
charged  and  the  pupils  are  given  their  food  and  clothes.  Many 
of  them  live  in  a  dormitory  near  the  Lecture  Hall.  A  careful 
investigation  is  made  before  any  student  is  accepted  and  the 
number  in  the  school  is  definitely  limited  to  10.  All  the  expenses 
of  the  school  are  met  by  the  Model  Lecture  Hall. 

LECTURES    AT    TEMPLE    MARKETS 

The  markets  held  at  the  different  temples  in  Peking,  some 
of  them  once  a  year,  some  once  or  twice  a  month,  some  three 


EDUCATION  153 

times  a  month,  always  attract  large  crowds  of  people.  The  Board 
of  Education  has  taken  advantage  of  this  and  sends  lecturers  to 
the  markets  to  talk  to  any  who  will  stop  and  listen.  The  Tec- 
tures  are  given  from  I  to  4  o'clock  and  the  subjects  and  aims  are 
the  same  as  for  the  regular  lecture  halls.  The  average  attendance 
is  about  500  a  day.  The  audience  is  naturally  composed  of  idlers 
around  the  temple  grounds  and  those  who  come  to  buy  at  the 
market.  Because  of  the  special  nature  of  the  work  the  lecturers 
are  paid  $20  a  month. 

PUBLIC    LIBRARIES 

Besides  the  small  libraries  in  the  lecture  halls  there  are  five 
public  libraries  in  Peking,  the  Public  Library  at  Fang  Chia  Yuan, 
the  Children's  Library  at  Hsi  Ssu  P'ailou,  Pei  Ta  Chieh, 
the  Central  Park  Library,  the  General  Public  Library  near  the 
Tan  P'ailou  on  Hsun  Chih  Men  Ta  Chieh  and  the  Branch 
Library  at  Hsiang  Yu  Lin,  Ssu  T'iao  Hut'ung. 

THE   PEKING   PUBLIC   LIBRARY 

The  Peking  Public  Library  (see  map)  founded  under  the 
Ch'ing  Dynasty  is  the  largest  of  all  the  Peking  Libraries  and  is 
devoted  to  old  and  classical  books,  of  which  there  are  over 
100,000  volumes.  The  library  is  housed  in  fairly  modern  build- 
ings with  light  and  spacious  rooms,  but  none  of  the  buildings  are 
fire  proof. 

The  books  are  divided  into  three  main  groups : 

ist.  Ssu  Ku  Chuan  Shu  or  ancient  classical  books  with 
some  6,144  volumes.  These,  however,  are  not  originals  but  are 
copies  of  old  classics  and  histories. 

2nd.  Shan  Pao  Shu  or  rare  books,  a  collection  of  14,000 
volumes  of  history  and  classics  including  8,000  volumes  of  the 
T'ang  Dynasty  Classics.  Most  of  the  books  were  printed  in  the 
Sung,  Yuan  and  Ming  Dynasties  and  were  brought  to  Peking 
from  Kansu  Province. 

3rd.  P'u  T'ung  Shu  or  ordinary  books  of  which  there  are 
100,000. 

Most  of  the  books,  except  those  in  the  Ssu  Ku  Chuan  Shu 
section  and  the  classics  of  the  T'ang  Dynasty,  were  printed  with 
old  style  wooden  type.  Many  of  the  books  are  so  old  and  valu- 
able that  they  cannot  be  used  by  the  ordinary  reader.  No  books 
can  be  taken  from  the  library  but  may  be  copied  on  payment  of 
50  cents  per  volume. 

Because  of  the  nature  of  the  books  the  average  number  of 
readers  is  very  small,  not  over  30,  and  most  of  them  are  old 


154  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

men  of  the  scholar  type.  There  used  to  be  a  reading  room  for 
women,  but  it  has  been  discontinued  and  any  who  come  are 
allowed  to  read  in  the  waiting  room.  Children  are  not  admitted. 
Library  hours  being  from  9  to  6,  no  lights  are  supplied.  A  charge 
of  10  coppers  is  made  for  reading  the  Shan  Pao  books,  5  coppers 
for  the  Ssu  Ku  Chuan  Shu  books,  2  coppers  for  the  general 
books  and  I  copper  for  the  newspapers.  Students  are  allowed 
to  use  the  general  library  for  I  copper  and  the  newspaper  reading 
room  free  of  charge. 

A  tea  or  rest  room  is  furnished  for  the  readers  in  this  and 
all  the  other  Peking  libraries.  Smoking  and  talking  are  not 
allowed  in  the  reading  rooms  but  are  permitted  in  the  tea  room 
where  hot  tea  is  supplied  by  the  servant. 

In  connection  with  the  library  there  is  also  a  small  newspaper 
and  magazine  reading  room  where  some  ten  different  publications 
are  on  file.  The  average  number  of  readers  is  30. 

The  expenses  of  the  library  amount  to  $1,500  a  month,  $800 
for  salaries  of  the  staff  of  19,  the  rest  for  general  office  expenses 
and  the  purchase  of  new  books.  During  1918  $1,200  was  spent 
for  books  and  $400  in  the  first  four  months  of  1919.  All  the 
expenses  of  the  library  are  met  by  the  National  Board  of  Educa- 
tion. 

THE   PEKING    CHILDREN'S   LIBRARY 

As  the  name  indicates,  this  library  is  for  children  only.  It  is 
housed  in  an  old  style  Chinese  courtyard  in  a  residence  district. 
On  one  side  of  the  court  are  three  reading  rooms,  two  for  boys 
and  one  for  girls,  while  on  the  other  side  are  play  rooms,  ping 
pong,  Chinese  chess  and  other  games  being  provided.  The  chil- 
dren are  also  allowed  to  play  out  of  doors  in  part  of  the  com- 
pound. 

The  library  has  some  thousand  volumes :  story  books  163, 
novels  TOO,  science  164,  literature  94,  magazines  159,  picture 
books  263,  miscellaneous  95.  A  considerable  number  of  educa- 
tional pictures  are  hung  on  the  walls.  The  children  are  free  to 
come  whenever  the  library  is  open,  1-5  on  week  days,  9-11  on 
Sundays,  and  the  librarian  helps  them  in  their  selection  of  books, 
which  of  course  cannot  be  taken  from  the  library.  The  average 
attendance  is  about  30,  all  but  one  or  two  being  boys.  The 
average  monthly  expenditure  for  the  library  is  $40,  librarian's 
salary  $16  and  for  the  purchase  of  new  books  $4. 

CENTRAL   PARK    LIBRARY 

As  part  of  the  extension  education,  the  Board  of  Education 
has  opened  near  the  Temple  of  the  Five  Grains  in  Central  Park 


EDUCATION  155 

a  library  of  some  five  thousand  volumes  including  books  of 
ancient  and  modern  times.  The  old  ones  cover  history,  philos- 
ophy and  literature,  the  modern  ones  philosophy  and  religion, 
history  and  geography,  social  science  including  economics,  indus- 
try and  political  science,  natural  science,  mathematics,  physics, 
chemistry,  biology,  mineralogy,  astronomy,  medicine,  industry, 
agriculture;  and  general  literature  in  both  Chinese  and  foreign 
languages,  German,  French,  English,  Russian,  Japanese.  In  the 
reading  room  there  are  also  some  sixty  newspapers.  An  entrance 
fee  of  two  coppers  is  charged.  A  part  of  the  reading  room 
which  has  accommodation  for  over  100  people  is  reserved  for 
women  and  children.  The  library  is  open  from  10  A.M.  until 
sunset. 

The  average  number  of  readers  varies  with  the  season ;  in  the 
spring  it  is  about  30,  during  the  winter  20,  in  the  fall  40,  and  in 
summer  200.  On  national  holidays  when  admission  to  the  park 
is  free  and  the  usual  charge  of  10  cents  is  not  made,  those  who 
come  to  the  library  sometimes  number  up  in  the  thousands.  The 
largest  group  of  readers  belong  to  the  official  class,  while  students 
and  soldiers  are  next  in  number.  The  library  is  used  by  only 
a  few  merchants,  women  or  children. 

There  are  some  six  librarians  and  officials  connected  with 
the  library  besides  three  clerks,  six  servants  and  two  policemen. 
The  librarians  receive  from  $20  to  $40  a  month,  the  clerks  $12 
a  month,  servants  $5-$7,  and  the  policemen  $9.  The  monthly 
budget  paid  by  the  Board  of  Education  amounts  to  $500. 

PEKING   GENERAL    LIBRARY 

The  Peking  General  Library  (see  map)  was  the  first  of  the 
Peking  libraries  to  put  modern  books  on  its  shelves.  It  now 
contains  some  10,000  volumes,  over  2,700  of  which  are  novels. 
The  library  is  open  from  9  to  7.  It  is  lighted  with  electric  lights 
and  heated  with  foreign  stoves  during  the  winter  even  though 
the  buildings  are  old  style  Chinese.  The  average  number  of 
readers  is  100,  about  sixty  of  whom  are  students. 

In  connection  with  the  regular  library  there  is  a  reading 
room  for  children  decorated  with  many  interesting  pictures  and 
provided  with  some  toys  and  picture  books.  Altogether  there 
are  some  600  children's  books.  There  is  also  a  small  outdoor 
playground  for  the  children.  As  there  is  no  special  reading  room 
for  women  any  that  come  have  to  use  the  children's  reading 
room^ 

The  estimated  expenditure  for  the  library  is  $1,200  a  month 
but  we  were  told  that  only  $900  was  actually  used,  $700  for 
salaries  and  general  expenses  and  $200  for  new  books.  The 


156  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

librarians  and  manager  receive  $28  and  $40  a  month,  those  who 
are  in  training  $10  and  $12  a  month. 

THE   PEKING    BRANCH    LIBRARY 

This  library  (see  map),  a  branch  of  the  Peking  Public 
Library,  was  opened  in  June,  1915.  Unlike  the  other  libraries 
it  is  housed  in  a  two-story  foreign  style  building.  The  books 
comprise  some  1,300  volumes  of  Chinese  classics,  history,  philos- 
ophy, etc.,  1,500  volumes  of  Tibetan  classics  and  a  number  of 
books  in  foreign  languages.  Thirty-six  student  magazines  are 
kept  on  file  in  the  students'  reading  room  and  there  are  38  different 
newspapers  in  the  newspaper  reading  room.  A  special  reading 
room  is  provided  for  women.  A  charge  of  one  or  two  coppers  is 
made  depending  upon  whether  the  reader  wants  to  use  the  books 
or  newspapers.  Certain  classes,  students  and  soldiers  are  given 
reduced  rates  and  some  are  admitted  free.  The  average  number 
of  readers  is  40.  The  library  is  open  from  8  A.M.  to  8  P.M. 
during  most  of  the  year.  In  summer  it  opens  at  7  A.M.  and 
closes  at  9  P.M.  but  is  closed  from  12  to  3.  The  library  is  closed 
on  Mondays  and  all  holidays  but  the  newspaper  reading  room 
only  on  holidays. 

In  1918  the  expenses  of  the  library  amounted  to  $5,040,  sala- 
ries of  librarians  and  secretaries  $2,700,  rent  $820,  newspapers 
and  magazines  $870,  servants  $290.  Apprentices  learning  the 
library  work  are  paid  $10  a  month.  The  head  of  the  library 
is  appointed  by  the  Minister  of  Education  and  is  also  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  Education. 

The  1917  report  of  the  Board  of  Education  shows  an 
expenditure  in  1916  of  $10,000  on  the  two  old  style  libraries, 
although  only  3,443  people  used  them  during  the  year.  One 
library  with  modern  books  cost  $8,000  to  run  but  had  246,300 
readers. 

The  popularity  of  the  new  literature  is  also  shown  by  the 
figures  for  all  of  China.  Twenty-five  old  style  libraries  had 
109,903  readers.  Two  hundred  and  thirty-eight  with  modern 
books  had  2,718,910  readers.1 

THE   SOCIETY    FOR   THE  DISCUSSION    AND   INVESTIGATION 
OF   EDUCATIONAL  AFFAIRS 

In  order  to  arouse  interest  in  general  popular  education  and 
social  reform,  the  Society  for  the  Discussion  and  Investigation 
of  Educational  Affairs  was  established  by  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion. According  to  the  regulations  of  the  society  the  different 

1  See  Appendix  for  complete   tables. 


EDUCATION  157 

topics  to  be  discussed  are  novels,  dramas,  and  public  speeches, 
the  three  sections  of  the  society  each  paying  special  attention  to 
one  of  these  subjects.  The  members  of  the  novel  branch  inves- 
tigate old  and  new  novels,  arrange  for  the  writing  of  new  ones 
and  attempt  to  improve  the  class  of  novel  being  written.  They 
also  seek  to  have  important  novels  in  other  languages  translated 
into  Chinese.  Those  interested  in  the  drama  investigate  the  old 
dramas,  any  new  ones  that  are  published  and  those  that  are  sold 
at  the  markets;  devise  means  for  having  plays  translated  into 
Chinese,  and  act  as  inspectors  of  moving  pictures  and  newly 
made  phonograph  records.  Those  who  belong  to  the  section 
having  to  do  with  public  speaking  not  only  make  a  careful  study 
of  the  public  addresses  that  are  being  given,  but  also  devise 
means  for  making  valuable  material  available  for  those  who  wish 
to  make  public  addresses.  They  act  as  inspectors  of  news  items 
and  pictures. 

The  members  of  this  association  are:  Several  officers  of  the 
Board  of  Education,  two  members  of  the  Local  Board  of  Educa- 
tion appointed  by  the  board  and  approved  by  the  Minister  of 
Education,  one  representative  from  every  school  directly  under  the 
Ministry  of  Education,  two  officers  of  the  Educational  Encour- 
aging Committee,  appointed  by  the  Local  Board  of  Education,  two 
representatives  of  the  Police  Board,  two  members  of  the  Peking 
Educational  Association  and  two  members  of  the  general  educa- 
tional committee  of  Peking.  The  association  may  itself  appoint 
other  members. 

The  president  of  the  society  and  the  head  of  each  of  the 
three  departments  are  all  appointed  by  the  Minister  of  Educa- 
tion. Each  department  holds  a  general  meeting  at  least  once 
a  week.  Special  meetings  are  held  occasionally  when  called  by 
the  president.  All  expenses  of  the  society  are  met  by  the  Board 
of  Education. 


THE  PEKING   EDUCATIONAL   ASSOCIATION 

The  Peking  Educational  Association  founded  by  the 
National  Board  of  Education  gives  in  its  regulations  as  its 
purposes  the  following: 

To  cooperate  with  the  National  Educational  Association; 
conduct  investigations  to  find  opportunities  for  educational  work 
in  social  activities,  home  education,  and  in  connection  with  the 
schools;  assist  the  police  in  furthering  their  educational  activi- 
ties; edit  educational  books  and  newspapers;  organize  educa- 
tional discussion  groups;  organize  lectures  for  the  poor;  estab- 
lish public  reading  rooms. 

The  membership  of  the  association  is  composed  of  educators, 


158  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

scientists  or  those  who  are  promoting  educational  work.  The 
initiation  fee  is  $i  and  the  annual  dues  $2.  The  activities  are 
divided  into  5  departments;  social  service,  correspondence,  edi- 
torial, treasury  and  miscellaneous,  each  of  which  is  under  the 
leadership  of  an  executive  secretary,  who  must  be  changed  every 
year.  A  general  supervisory  committee  of  20  men,  in  addition 
to  the  officers,  assumes  responsibility  for  all  the  activities  of  the 
association. 

A  meeting  of  members  is  held  on  April  loth  of  every  year 
to  discuss  the  educational  situation  in  Peking  and  to  hear  reports 
as  to  the  past  activities  and  suggestions  for  the  future. 

THE  RENAISSANCE   MOVEMENT   IN    CHINA 

The  year  1919  was  significant  in  the  history  of  China  because 
of  the  "student  movement"  and  its  influence  on  the  political  life 
of  the  country,  but  even  more  because  of  the  start  of  a  broad 
intellectual  movement  generally  known  in  Chinese  as  the  "Hsin 
Ssu  Ch'ao"  (new  thought  tide)  and  in  English  as  the  "Renais- 
sance Movement."  This  originally  centered  in  an  effort  to*  popu- 
larize the  use  in  writing  of  the  Mandarin  or  spoken  language  but 
has  since  enlarged  its  field  until  it  is  developing  a  program  for 
complete  social  reformation. 

Up  to  January,  1919,  the  ancient  classical  Chinese  or  Wen-Li 
was  almost  the  universal  mode  of  literary  expression.  This  is  a 
literary  language  no  longer  spoken  and  bears  practically  the 
same  relation  to  the  spoken  Chinese  as  formerly  obtained  between 
Latin  and  Anglo-Saxon  in  England.  It  is  so  difficult  that  it  is 
fully  understood  only  by  those  who  have  had  a  very  complete 
education. 

Even  before  1919  there  was  a  movement  on  foot  to  popular- 
ize the  spoken  language  in  written  form  but  it  had  made  but 
little  progress  even  though  backed  by  a  strong  group  of  pro- 
gressive Chinese,  most  of  them  "returned  students"  who  had 
studied  in  the  universities  of  Europe  and  America.  Among  the 
leaders  of  the  movement  were  three  men  connected  with  Peking 
University,  the  National  Government  University,  Dr.  Ts'ai  Yuan 
P'ei,  the  Chancellor  and  a  former  student  in  France ;  Dr.  Hu  Suh, 
professor  of  literature,  who  received  his  doctor's  degree  from 
Columbia  University;  and  Prof.  T'ao  Lu  Kung,  professor  of 
sociology  and  a  graduate  of  London  University. 

In  the  spring  of  1919  special  attention  was  brought  to  this 
new  intellectual  movement  when  the  reactionary  forces  of  the 
old  literary  and  official  China  severely  attacked  its  whole  view- 
point and  method.  This  attack  elicited  Chancellor  Ts'ai's  famous 
reply  to  Mr.  Lin  Shu  in  which  he  defended  several  professors 


EDUCATION  159 

who  were  being  criticized  for  their  liberal  opinions  on  literature 
and  morals  and  also  took  a  strong  stand  for  freedom  of  investi- 
gation, for  toleration  and  openness  of  mind.  This  naturally 
caused  wide  discussion  of  tfie  new  movement  and  brought  it 
many  new  adherents. 

When  the  "student  movement"  began  in  May  the  political 
and  intellectual  movements  naturally  made  common  cause  and  in 
a  short  time  spread  over  the  entire  country.  Now  whatever  may 
be  the  fate  of  the  political  movement  the  intellectual  program  is 
not  only  rapidly  bringing  about  a  literary  revolution,  but  is  in- 
fluencing practically  all  fields  of  thought  in  the  country  largely 
because  of  the  new  ideas  and  ideals  that  are  being  introduced 
through  the  use  of  the  vulgate  language. 

The  aim  of  the  movement  as  stated  in  the  platform  drawn  up 
by  its  principal  leaders  is  "to  re-make  civilization,"  and  it  plans 
to  attain  the  desired  result  by  "democracy  and  science."  The 
"critical  attitude"  is  the  approved  attitude  and  there  is  a  conscious 
endeavor  to  properly  fix  all  social  and  moral  values  by  a  process 
known  as  "the  trans-valuation  of  values."  * 

All  customs,  ideas  and  methods  of  procedure  are  to  be  tested 
purely  on  the  grounds  of  their  value  in  the  development  of  a 
progressive  China.  Old  and  useless  viewpoints  and  methods  are 
to  be  rej'ected,  and  new  ideas,  ideals  and  progressive  institutions 
are  to  be  developed  to  meet  the  needs  of  a  new  society.  The 
platform  also  lays  great  emphasis  on  the  importance  of  investiga- 
tion and  states  that,  before  any  attempt  is  made  to  destroy  the 
old,  a  very  careful  scientific  study  must  be  made  in  the  social, 
government,  religious,  literary  and  other  fields,  so  that,  when  it 
comes  time  to  build  anew,  the  methods  and  ideas  used  shall  be 
those  that  are  best  fitted  to  China. 

In  order  to  bring  about  a  thorough  reconstruction  of  the 
intellectual  attitude  as  rapidly  as  possible  the  movement  aims  to 
reproduce,  through  the  printed  page,  the  views  of  the  leading 
progressive,  democratic  and  radical  thinkers  of  the  west.  The 
men  singled  out  as  those  whose  theories  should  be  investigated 
with  particular  care  are  Karl  Marx,  T.  F.  Wilcox,  John  Dewey, 
Haeckel,  William  James,  Tolstoy,  Bertrand  Russell,  Kropotkin, 
Bakunin  and  Lenin.  Prior  to  January,  1919,  the  only  organ  of 
the  Renaissance  Movement  was  La  Jeunesse  (Hsin  Ch'ing  Nien), 
a  monthly  magazine  which  by  that  time  had  reached  its  thirtieth 
issue.  Early  in  1919,  the  Renaissance  Magazine  (Hsin  Ch'ao), 
and  the  Weekly  Review  (Mei  Shih  P'ing  Lun)  were  started  and 
two  of  the  Peking  dailies  began  to  print  the  poetry  and  articles 
of  the  Renaissance  leaders. 

When   the   nation-wide   movement    started,   new   periodicals 

1  See  Appendix  for  complete    platform. 


160  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

sprang  up  all  over  the  country  until  early  in  1920  there  were 
over  400  of  them.  Though  many  of  these  monthly  and  weekly 
magazines  were  edited  by  undergraduates  in  the  universities  and 
colleges  in  China,  they  very  largely  represent  the  young  China 
group  as  they  are  guided  by  the  three  well-known  scholars  men- 
tioned above  and  by  others  in  Peking,  Shanghai,  Hangchow, 
Hankow,  and  other  sections  of  the  country.  A  study  of  the 
tables  of  contents  of  several  volumes  of  The  Renaissance,  Eman- 
cipation and  Reconstruction,  and  La  Jeunesse,  several  examples 
of  which  are  given  herewith,  shows  that  there  is  a  special  em- 
phasis on  the  social  field,  including  careful  studies  of  the  Russian 
Soviet,  syndicalism  and  socialism,  of  the  labor  problem  in  China 
and  other  countries,  of  the  women's  movement  in  Europe  and 
America,  and  of  the  family  problem  in  China. 

TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  OF  SOME  NUMBERS  OF  THE  RENAIS- 
SANCE MOVEMENT  MAGAZINE 

The  Renaissance,  Volume  II,  No.  i : 

Emancipation  of  women.  The  problem  of  social  reconstruction. 
Study  of  the  new  village.  Record  of  the  new  style  village  in  Japan. 
The  social  estimate  of  the  new  poetry.  Review  of  "The  School  and 
Society"  (John  Dewey). 

The  Renaissance,  Volume  II,  No.  3 : 

The  Christ  before  Jesus.  The  foundations  of  anarchy,  and  the  society 
of  anarchy.  Opposed  to  the  life  of  individualism.  The  field  of  psychol- 
ogy (McDougall).  Industry  in  relation  to  livelihood.  Woman's  rights 
and  the  law.  The  present  day  power  of  democracy.  The  building  of 
public  opinion.  The  methods  of  sociology. 

La  Jeunesse,  Volume  VI,  No.  4: 

Pragmatism.  The  foundations  of  Russian  revolutionary  philosophy. 
Work  in  relation  to  life.  Discussing  the  foundations  of  electoral 
franchise.  Revolution  in  thought.  Social  relations  between  men  and 
women  should  be  free. 

Emancipation  and  Reconstruction,  Volume  I,  No.  2: 

Leadership,  competition  and  the  labor  movement.  Labor  unions.  A 
criticism  of  socialism.  Biological  egoism,  altruism  and  universal  love. 
The  education  of  commercial  apprentices.  The  logical  leadership  of  the 
labor  movement.  Lenin  and  Trotsky — the  men,  their  ideas  and  real 
condition.  The  definition  of  socialism. 

Emancipation  and  Reconstruction,  Volume  I,  No.  3: 

The  relation  of  Egoism  to  social  outlook,  and  the  relation  of  selfish- 
ness to  altruism.  How  can  we  get  peace  in  the  world  ?  The  foolishness 
of  conservatism.  The  movement  for  the  emancipation  of  women  in 
Europe  and  America.  The  far-reaching  plan  of  the  builders  of  Russia. 
The  labor  ideas  of  Tolstoy. 

Of  the  manifold,  widespread  and  far-reaching  results  of  the 
'Renaissance  Movement,  the  literary  revolution  is  perhaps  the 
most  remarkable.  In  the  use  of  the  written  Mandarin  the  edu- 
cated classes  of  China  have  been  given  a  new  and  powerful  mode 
of  expression.  Not  only  have  they  been  active  in  translating 


EDUCATION  161 

western  novelists,  Ibsen,  Tolstoy  and  others,  and  the  writings  of 
western  political  and  social  thinkers,  but  they  have  created  a 
new  poetry  and  started  a  new  fiction  of  their  own.  Literature 
of  first  hand  critical  and  scientific  studies  of  the  social  life  and 
institutions  of  China  is  also  being  written  in  Mandarin. 

Another  very  evident  result  of  the  movement  has  been  a 
clearer  understanding  of  and  deeper  interest  in  democracy.  The 
experience  of  eight  or  nine  years  of  a  nominal  republic  brought 
home  to  the  minds  of  young  China  how  many  fundamental  social 
and  intellectual  transformations  are  needed  before  real  democ- 
racy can  be  achieved.  The  jmcient  social  and_  famil 
seemed  to  be  standing  in  the  "way  uf  OJU'fylnftp  completion  the 
democratic  platforrninaugiirated  by  the  ReYolutioa-ef~TQii.  So 
the  new  intellectuaT"movement  ha's  concentrated  on  intellectual 
and  social  transformation  rather  than  on  political  problems.  Sub- 
jects such  as  the  transformation  of  industry  from  the  old  gild 
system  to  the  modern  factory  system,  the  emancipation  of  women, 
the  transformation  of  the  Chinese  family  system  from  that  of 
the  old  clan  system  to  the  smaller  modern  unit,  the  reform  of 
ancient  marriage  and  funeral  customs,  have  occupied  its  atten- 
tion. 

The  interest  in  social  problems  has  brought  with  it  a  much 
deeper  interest  on  the  part  of  educated  men  in  the  problems  of 
the  common  people  than  there  has  ever  been  before.  Students 
for  the  first  time  have  made  careful  studies  of  living  conditions 
and  of  the  wage  scale  of  those  working  under  the  gild  system 
and  in  modern  industry.  The  intellectuals  of  new  China  have 
definitely  thrown  in  their  lot  with  the  common  man  and  are 
working  on  the  problem  of  raising  the  standard  of  living  and 
educating  the  great  mass  of  toiling  Chinese. 

A  new  stimulus  has  been  given  educational  reform  by  the 
intellectual  movement.  Dr.  John  Dewey  of  Columbia  University, 
who  is  spending  his  second  year  in  Peking  as  a  lecturer  in  Peking 
(Government)  University,  has  been  back  of  most  of  this  and 
has  had  a  profound  effect  on  the  entire  Renaissance  Movement 
as  well. 

He  has  lectured  not  only  in  Peking  but  in  Shanghai,  Hang- 
chow,  Nanking,  Tientsin,  Mukden  and  the  provinces  of  Shansi 
and  Shantung.  His  lectures  have  been  published  in  the  Renais- 
sance magazines  and  widely  distributed  throughout  the  country. 
The  emphasis  he  has  given  on  "experimental  education,"  "the 
problem  method"  of  teaching  and  the  importance  of  a  close 
connection  between  education  and  industry  in  a  modern  democ- 
racy has  had  a  telling  effect.  Play  laboratories  equipped  with 
various  forms  of  simple  apparatus  and  common-place  materials, 
boxes,  pieces  of  wood  and  metal,  measuring  utensils  in  boxes  of 


162  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

grain  or  sand,  where  the  children  can  come  and  play,  make  things 
and  learn  for  the  primary  schools,  have  been  opened.  The  text- 
books for  primary  schools  were  last  year  printed  in  Mandarin 
for  the  first  time;  there  has  been  an  increased  interest  in  the 
higher  and  lower  primary  schools  in  vocational  education.  The 
young  men  and  young  women  of  the  colleges  have  organized  in 
the  school  buildings  or  in  borrowed  quarters  free  night  schools 
in  whose  curricula  there  is  a  marked  emphasis  of  industrial 
education.  The  students  have  cooperated  with  the  industrial 
gilds  in  improving  their  age  long  methods  of  apprentice  education 
and  have  even  established  in  some  places  open  forums  where, 
under  the  leadership  of  the  college  students,  the  people  can 
discuss  practical  social  problems.  A  teachers'  training  course 
has  been  established  in  the  National  Teachers'  College  to  prepare 
teachers  for  work  in  part  time  primary  schools  to  be  opened  in 
the  country  districts,  and  in  some  schools  the  cooperative  idea 
of  part  time  at  work  and  part  time  in  school  is  being  developed. 
The  influence  of  Dr.  Dewey  and  those  working  with  him  is  also 
seen  in  the  fact  that  co-education  is  being  adopted  by  some  of 
the  highest  educational  institutions.  In  1919  a  few  women  stu- 
dents entered  Peking  University.  Women  are  also  admitted  to 
the  graduate  department  of  the  National  Teachers'  College.  A 
cooperative  system,  similar  to  the  relation  between  Harvard 
University  and  Radcliffe  College,  has  been  worked  out  for  the 
men's  normal  and  women's  normal  schools. 

The  change  in  the  whole  mental  attitude  of  young  thinking 
China  is  undoubtedly  the  most  far-reaching  of  the  results  of  the 
Renaissance  'Movement.  The  old  established  viewpoints  are 
being  critically  investigated  and  even  the  fundamental  moral 
principles  of  Confucius  have  been  questioned.  The  organization 
of  every  department  of  human  life,  government,  education,  the 
family,  industry,  religion,  is  being  analyzed.  The  term  used 
perhaps  more  than  any  other  in  the  modern  magazines  and  by 
the  leaders  of  the  Renaissance  Movement  is  "She  Hui  Kai  Tsao" 
(Social  Reconstruction).  Young  China,  considering  most  jof  the 
ancient  way  of  life  to  be  useless  and  cumbersome,  is  eagerly 
reaching  out  for  new  methods  and  tools  from  the  west  and  is 
seeking  to  study  scientifically  the  problems  of  Chinese  society 
so  that  they  may  build  a  stronger  and  more  progressive  nation. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
COMMERCIAL  LIFE 

Peking,  the  capital  of  China  for  almost  a  thousand  years, 
has  been  a  political,  rather  than  a  commercial  or  industrial  center. 
It  is  not  located  on  the  sea-coast  or  on  any  large  river;  and 
transportation,  though  available,  has  been  difficult.  The  sur- 
rounding country  does  not  produce  crops  that  are  useful  for 
manufacture;  and,  even  though  coal  is  available  in  the  western 
hills  and  has  been  used  as  fuel,  it  has  not  brought  big  business 
to  the  city.  Peking  was  opened  to  foreign  influence  in  1900 
after  the  Boxer  Uprising,  but  it  has  hardly  been  touched  by 
modern  industry.  It  has  never  been  made  a  treaty  port.  For- 
eigners have  not  been  given  the  right  to  manufacture  and  do 
business  there,  and  the  strong  political  influence  and  special  cus- 
toms duties  have  kept  the  Chinese  from  developing  factories 
there.  The  business  of  the  city  is  very  largely  that  connected 
with  the  every-day  life  of  the  people,  the  bringing  in  and  selling 
of  food,  clothes  and  other  necessities.  Small  shops  are  the  rule. 
Thousands  of  them  have  a  frontage  of  fifteen  feet  or  less  and 
only  a  few  of  the  largest  employ  as  many  as  one  hundred  men. 
The  number  of  shops  and  stores  in  the  city  is  25,395,*  while 
87,721  persons  are  engaged  in  industry  or  commerce. 

As  a  result,  the  business  life  of  Peking  is  similar  to  that  of 
the  ordinary  Chinese  city  that  has  not  had  any  special  industrial 
advantage  and  has  not  been  greatly  influenced  by  western  methods 
and  ideas.  Its  commercial  organizations  are  as  typical  of  those 
in  other  parts  of  the  country  as  the  organizations  of  any  city  can 
be  said  to  be  typical  of  a  country  where  local  conditions  have 
produced  so  many  local  variations.  Yet  there  is  enough  modern 
development  in  Peking  to  show  the  probable  effect  of  the  new 
ways  on  the  old  business  methods  and  organizations,  and  to  give 
some  idea  of  the  future  development  of  the  business  life  of  the 
city. 

THE  GILDS 

The  outstanding  features  of  the  business  life  of  Peking  are 
the  merchant  and  labor  gilds,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  a 
few  modern  factories.  The  gilds  are  a  form  of  combination 

1  Police  Census,  1917. 

163 


164  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

that  China  has  known  for  over  two  thousand  years.  They  are 
organizations  made  up  of  the  men  connected  with  only  one  kind 
of  work.  Every  trade  has  had  its  gild,  and  the  gilds  include 
both  employers  and  employees.  The  Chamber  of  Commerce  is 
patterned  after  the  chambers  of  commerce  of  other  countries, 
but  has  been  adapted  to  the  business  life  of  the  Chinese.  It 
includes  in  its  membership  the  representatives  of  many  different 
kinds  of  business.  The  modern  factories  are  western  in  their 
processes,  machinery  and  methods. 

Competition  and  the  political  system  have  been  the  principal 
factors  in  bringing  about  the  formation  and  development  of  the 
gilds.  The  preamble  of  the  published  price  list  of  one  of  the 
gilds  gives  the  Chinese  attitude  toward  competition. 

"We  have  gathered  the  workers  together  and  found  that 
prices  are  not  uniform.  No  shops  have  standard  prices,  and 
without  fixed  prices  it  is  hard  for  the  workers  to  make  a  living. 
Different  shops  have  reduced  their  prices  from  time  to  time  when 
business  has  been  poor,  until  the  men  who  have  been  carrying  on 
the  business  have  lost  money  every  day.  They  have  been  hungry 
and  have  lacked  clothes.  Seeing  so  many  people  suffering  in  this 
business,  the  gild  believes  that,  in  doing  business,  justice  must 
prevail,  so  that  the  sellers  shall  not  lose  money  and  the  buyers 
shall  not  be  cheated.  Therefore,  in  order  that  we  may  maintain 
our  business  forever,  we  have  had  a  meeting  at  the  Temple  for 
the  purpose  of  fixing  a  uniform  price  list.  If,  in  the  future, 
anybody  changes  these  prices  and  is  found  out,  he  is  to  be  fined. 
Let  him  remember  this  and  not  disregard  it  and  then  repent  when 
he  is  found  out." 

Centuries  of  experience  have  proved  to  the  Chinese  that  com- 
petition is  not  fitted  to  their  system  of  life.  In  a  country  where 
a  man  can  enter  a  trade  only  after  he  has  served  an  apprentice- 
ship of  three  years,  labor  has  practically  no  mobility ;  and,  where 
so  many  people  live  so  close  to  starvation,  it  is  a  tragedy  for  a 
man  to  lose  his  job.  Competition,  with  its  fight  for  trade,  means 
lower  prices,  lower  wages  and  failure  for  those  who  have  not 
the  resources  or  ability  to  meet  the  new  conditions.  That  in 
turn  means  loss  for  practically  all  of  those  who  are  connected 
with  the  trade,  and  suffering  for  many.  The  Chinese  feel  that 
the  cost  of  competition  is  too  high.  They  combine  rather  than 
compete.  They  have  developed  the  gild  organization  so  that  they 
may  be  protected  from  each  other,  and  that  business  conditions 
may  be  stabilized,  be  the  same  for  all  and  be  maintained  in  spite 
of  outside  influences. 

The  political  situation  has  been  a  powerful  factor  in  bringing 
together  all  the  men  in  one  line  of  business.  The  Emperor  and 
his  officials  have  considered  it  their  privilege  to  absorb  as  much 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  165 

as  possible  of  the  usufruct  of  the  country.  They  have  done  this 
by  means  of  taxes  and  heavy  charges  for  the  services  of  the 
officials.  Single  individuals  have  not  been  able  to  stand  against 
the  demands  of  the  officials ;  but,  when  all  the  men  engaged  in 
one  line  of  business  have  been  united,  the  officials  have  found  it 
unwise,  if  not  impossible,  to  enforce  new  or  additional  demands, 
if  the  business  men  are  unwilling  to  accede  to  those  demands.  One 
of  the  reasons  why  the  merchants  have  had  the  power  to  force 
the  officials  to  listen  to  their  protest  has  been  that  the  first  re- 
sponsibility of  the  official  is  to  keep  peace  in  his  district.  If  he 
tries  to  enforce  demands  that  are  new  or  unusual  and  the  mer- 
chants refuse  to  accept  them,  trouble  is  bound  to  ensue,  and  it 
will  come  to  the  ears  of  the  official  higher  up,  who  will  want  to 
know  why  the  peace  of  the  district  is  disturbed.  Rather  than 
allow  any  sizable  disturbance,  the  official  will  withdraw  or  at 
least  compromise  his  demands. 

The  giving  of  justice  and  the  enforcement  of  the  law  by  the 
officials  have  been  such  that  the  merchants  have  found  that  it  is 
to  their  advantage  to  dispense  justice  for  themselves  and  to  make 
and  enforce  their  own  law.  In  the  past  there  has  been  but  little 
national  business  law  and  the  business  men  have  been  governed 
almost  entirely  by  local  custom.  The  officials  were  never  natives 
of  the  province  in  which  they  held  office,  and  were  not  acquainted 
with  the  local  customs.  Furthermore,  they  have  usually  been 
more  interested  in  the  amount  of  the  contributions  they  could  get 
from  the  parties  to  a  lawsuit,  than  in  giving  justice.  Conse- 
quently, the  merchants  have  found  it  wise  to  settle  their  own 
troubles,  and  to  stay  away  from  the  officials.  This  they  have 
done  by  having  the  gilds  adopt  necessary  rules  or  laws,  and  also 
act  as  the  agency  to  decide  quarrels  and  disputes  according  to  the 
prevailing  customs  and  laws. 

The  gild  organization  has  been  such  that  every  one  connected 
with  the  trade  or  business  has  belonged  to  the  gild,  and  all 
members  have  had  their  vote  in  electing  officers  and  their  voice  in 
the  passing  of  any  new  rules.  The  control  of  business  has  been 
democratic,  even  though  the  country  has  been  ruled  by  autocratic 
officials. 

Although  the  officials  have  found  the  gilds  arrayed  against 
them  whenever  they  attempted  to  encroach  on  business,  they 
have,  at  other  times,  found  the  gilds  a  great  help  to  them.  When- 
ever new  rules  or  new  taxes  have  been  under  consideration,  it 
has  been  possible,  by  conference  with  the  head  men  of  the  gild, 
to  determine  whether  or  not  such  rules  or  taxes  would  be  accept- 
able to  the  merchants.  Then,  too,  the  gild  has  often  accepted  the 
responsibility  for  enforcing  the  rules  and  even  for  collecting  the 
taxes. 


166  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

With  the  membership  of  the  gild  including  those  connected 
with  only  a  single  trade,  a  large  number  of  gilds  are  organized 
in  any  one  city.  They  vary  greatly  in  size,  strength,  complete- 
ness of  organization  and  control  over  members.  The  usual  rule 
is  that  the  greater  the  amount  of  capital  involved  the  more  com- 
plete will  be  the  organization  of  the  gild,  and  the  more  skilled 
the  workers  the  more  insistent  will  they  be  that  they  have  a 
strong  organization.  It  is  only  the  unskilled  trades,  ricksha 
coolies,  etc.,  that  are  without  a  definite  organization.  Even 
among  them  the  Chinese  genius  for  organization  is  so  strong  that 
they  are  able  to  get  together  quickly  in  time  of  need.  In  Hang- 
chow,  Chekiang,  the  ricksha  coolies  were  able  to  organize  within 
twenty-four  hours  a  strike  that  paralyzed  the  traffic  of  the  city. 

HISTORY   OF   THE  GILDS 

Just  when  in  China's  history  the  gilds  first  began  to  develop, 
no  one  knows.  The  Chinese  records  go  back  for  more  than  three 
thousand  years;  but  they  tell  only  of  Emperors,  wars  and  sub- 
jects of  literary  merit.  Business  and  anything  connected  with  it 
have  not  been  considered  of  literary  merit,  and  so  have  not  been 
more  than  very  casually  mentioned  in  the  records.  Any  monu- 
ments or  tablets  that  told  of  the  gilds  and  their  organizations 
have  failed  to  survive  the  many  changes  that  have  come  over  the 
country.  Even  the  gilds  themselves  cannot  trace  their  history 
back  to  the  beginning,  for  they  have  not  any  written  constitu- 
tions, and  they  have  not  thought  it  at  all  necessary  to  keep  records 
of  their  routine  meetings  or  even  of  any  radical  change  in  their 
organization.  They  have  been  careful  to  preserve  copies  of  the 
rules  that  have  been  in  force,  but  the  copies  of  any  old  rules  have 
been  destroyed. 

The  Korean  gilds,  on  the  other  hand,  have  written  constitu- 
tions and  have  kept  a  record  of  all  alterations  and  amendments. 
Many  of  these  constitutions  are  over  one  thousand  years  old. 
v  Reference  is  made  in  them  to  the  Chinese  gilds,  as  their  form  or 
organization  was  used  as  a  model  for  the  Korean  gilds.  Conse- 
quently, it  is  definitely  known  that  the  Chinese  have  used  the 
gild  organization  for  well  over  one  thousand  years.  They  have 
probably  had  it  for  two  thousand  years  or  even  longer. 

The  oldest  gild  in  Peking  is  the  Gild  of  the  Blind.  They 
claim  that  their  organization  is  over  two  thousand  years  old  and 
that  they  have  records  running  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  Han 
Dynasty  (206  B.  C.).  They  have  been  unwilling  to  let  any  out- 
sider examine  these  records,  so  their  claim  cannot  be  verified. 
The  other  Peking  gilds  give  the  date  of  their  organization  as 
some  time  after  1644,  the  date  when  the  Manchus  deposed  the 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  167 

Ming  Emperor  and  placed  their  ruler  on  the  throne  of  China. 
With  the  coming  of  the  Manchus,  the  business  life  of  the  capital 
was  naturally  completely  disorganized.  There  was  fighting  inci- 
dent to  the  change  of  dynasty,  and  the  stores  were  thoroughly 
looted,  if  not  entirely  destroyed.  Under  such  circumstances  the 
gilds  disappeared  and  did  not  return  until  conditions  had  quieted 
down  and  business  had  begun  to  return  to  normal.  The  Chinese 
give  the  year  of  the  reorganization  of  any  gild  as  the  date  of  its 
founding,  so  there  are  practically  none  that  claim  to  have  been 
founded  prior  to  the  coming  of  the  Manchus.  Even  since  1644 
there  have  been  political  disturbances  or  hard  times  that  have 
caused  the  temporary  break-up  of  some  of  the  gilds.  As  a  result 
there  are  many  that  seem  to  have  had  but  a  short  history,  and 
some  even  claim  to  have  been  founded  since  the  Revolution  of 
191 1 ;  most  of  these  are  gilds  whose  work  was  connected  with 
customs  that  had  been  introduced  by  the  Manchus.  These  cus- 
toms were  largely  discarded  after  the  establishment  of  the  Re- 
public, and  the  workers  were  unable  to  adapt  themselves  to  the 
new  styles  rapidly  enough  to  avoid  bankruptcy.  Their  gilds  had 
to  be  discontinued,  as  the  members  could  not  afford  to  pay  their 
running  expenses.  The  gilds  have  since  reorganized,  as  their  , 
members  have  adapted  themselves  to  the  new  styles,  have  grad- 
ually built  up  profitable  businesses,  and  have  found  how  much 
the  gild  organization  and  rules  mean  to  them.  With  the  gild  dis- 
organized, competition  returns  and  it  is  not  long  before  the  men 
are  anxious  to  reorganize  the  gild,  to  -reestablish  its  rules  and  to 
make  conditions  once  more  uniform. 

Chief  among  the  gilds  disorganized  by  the  coming  of  the 
Republic  are  those  of  the  barbers,  the  hat-makers,  the  old  style 
tailors,  and  the  undertakers.  The  installation  of  a  water  system 
in  Peking  in  1908  broke  up  the  water-carriers  gild  and  it  is  just 
now  reorganizing. 

GILD   MEMBERSHIP 

Membership  in  a  gild  is  ordinarily  limited  to  those  who  belong 
to  one  trade  or  line  of  work.  Seldom  do  the  workers  in  two  or 
more  lines  unite  in  one  gild,  and  then  ordinarily  only  when  the 
types  of  work  are  similar.  The  Peking  Bone  and  Horn  Gild  is 
an  example  of  this  sort  of  organization;  it  includes  the  makers 
of  tooth-brushes,  hair-pins,  combs,  shoe-horns,  spectacle-frames 
and  tongue-scrapers.  We  have  found  only  one  gild  in  which 
two  apparently  unrelated  trades  are  united,  namely,  the  makers 
of  incense  and  of  toilet  articles. 

The  territory  in  which  the  gild  operates  usually  includes  a 
city  and  the  country  immediately  surrounding  it,  though  some  of 
the  gilds  divide  the  city  for  administrative  purposes  into  dis- 


170  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

gild  as  a  store-keeper.  This  will  simply  change  his  type  of 
membership,  as  he  will  have  already  served  his  trade  apprentice- 
ship and  joined  the  gild.  Only  a  very  few  gilds  allow  a  man  to 
open  a  store  and  join  the  gild  if  he  is  a  "Wai  Hang,"  or  one 
who  has  not  served  an  apprenticeship.  Most  of  those  are  the 
gilds  that  deal  in  goods  of  foreign  manufacture,  and  so  do  not 
find  it  necessary  to  require  their  members  to  serve  an  apprentice- 
ship. The  gilds  usually  charge  a  special  fee  when  a  new  store 
is  opened.  This  sometimes  amounts  to  one  hundred  dollars  or 
over,  but  is  more  often  a  few  tens  of  dollars.  They  also  recog- 
nize that  the  resources  of  the  employers  are  larger  than  those 
of  the  employees,  and  make  the  annual  contribution  of  the  store- 
keeper larger  than  that  of  the  worker.  Some  gilds  even  require 
the  store-keepers  to  pay  all  of  their  running  expenses. 

At  present  the  employers  and  employees  are  able  to  live  in 
harmony  in  the  same  organization,  as  the  great  majority  of 
questions  that  come  before  the  gild  have  to  do  with  the  interests 
of  the  trade  as  a  whole,  and  few,  if  any,  arise  where  the  interests 
of  the  workers  are  opposed  to  those  of  the  employers.  Wages 
are  the  principal  thing  in  which  the  workers  are  interested,  and 
they  are  usually  adjusted  by  the  employers  without  any  special 
demand  from  the  employees.  The  relationship  between  the  em- 
ployers and  employees  is  so  close  that  the  employers  are  able  to 
recognize  when  their  employees  need  a  higher  wage  to  meet 
higher  prices,  and  they  are  usually  willing  to  grant  it  of  their 
own  accord.  Seldom,  if  ever,  is  there  an  attempt  on  the  part  of 
the  workers  to  raise  wages  unless  the  price  of  living  has  gone 
up.  They  have  a  regular  standard  of  living  and  do  not  often 
attempt  to  improve  that  standard,  but  they  do  fight  against  any 
attempt  to  reduce  it.  In  case  the  employers  do  not  raise  wages 
when  there  has  been  a  rise  in  the  cost  of  living,  the  workers 
come  together,  organize,  and  as  a  group  present  their  demands 
to  their  employers.  If  their  demands  are  not  met,  the  men  ordi- 
narily attempt  to  enforce  them  by  striking.  After  the  point  at 
issue  has  been  settled,  the  organization  of  the  men  is  discon- 
tinued, and  both  employers  and  employees  work  together  in  the 
gild. 

Just  how  long  the  gild  will  be  able  to  include  both  employers 
and  employees  in  its  membership,  no  one  can  tell,  but  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  China  will  develop  trade  unions  and 
employers'  associations ;  for,  as  industry  develops,  the  interests 
of  the  two  groups  will  diverge  and  the  present  close  relationship 
between  master  and  man  will  gradually  disappear.  Even  now  there 
is  some  evidence  of  such  a  division  in  the  gild  organization.  The 
employers  and  employees  of  the  Incense  and  Toilet  Articles  Gild 
belong  to  the  same  organization,  but  hold  separate  meetings  at 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  171 

different  times  and  in  different  places.  The  employees  of  the 
shoe-makers  have  an  organization  that  is  entirely  distinct  from 
that  of  the  employers.  This  separation  will  increase  throughout 
the  whole  country,  but  will  probably  come  more  rapidly  in  South 
and  Central  China  than  in  the  north,  for  the  industrial  develop- 
ment of  those  districts  has  already  progressed  farther  than  that 
of  North  China,  and  the  character  of  their  resources  and  popula- 
tion is  such  that  their  development  will  be  even  more  rapid  in 
the  future. 

The  size  of  the  Peking  gilds  varies  tremendously,  of  course. 
For  some  kinds  of  work  the  demand  is  very  small,  and  the  gild 
will  perhaps  have  not  more  than  100  members.  There  is  a  large 
demand  for  other  kinds  of  work,  and  the  number  of  those  con- 
nected with  the  gild  may  be  10,000  or  even  20,000.  The  Gild  of 
the  Gold  Foil  Beaters  has  only  115  members,  15  store-keepers  and 
loo  workers,  while  2,500  store-keepers  and  13,300  workers  belong 
to  the  Tailors  Gild.  As  5>5°°  apprentices  are  working  in  the 
tailor  shops,  the  total  number  of  those  connected  with  the  gild 
is  21,300.  The  carpenters  say  that,  including  contractors,  work- 
ers, apprentices,  wood  dealers,  etc.,  there  are  over  10,000  connected 
with  their  gild. 

With  regard  to  health  questions  it  is  interesting  to  note  that 
the  water-carriers  (those  who  furnish  the  water  supply  to  most 
of  the  houses  of  the  city)  number  2,500,  while  some  5,000  men 
are  engaged  in  removing  the  sewage  of  the  city,  and  preparing  it 
for  use  as  fertilizer. 

For  further  figures  on  gild  membership  see  Appendix. 

MEETINGS 

All  of  the  gilds  hold  one  or  two  regular  meetings  of  their 
members  every  year,  and  as  many  special  meetings  as  may  be 
required.  The  regular  meetings  are  held  on  set  dates,  usually  the 
birthday  of  the  hero  or  deity  worshiped  as  the  patron  saint  of 
the  gild,  or  on  one  of  the  Chinese  festival  days.  The  special 
meetings  are  called  whenever  needed.  Meeting  days  are  holidays 
and  festivals  for  the  gild  members,  for  the  masters  and  workers 
come  together  to  enjoy  a  feast  and  theatrical  play,  to  worship 
their  patron  saint,  to  elect  officers  for  the  coming  year,  and  to 
transact  any  business  that  may  require  their  attention.  Routine 
matters  are  cared  for  by  the  board  of  directors,  but  important 
questions  concerning  the  gild  always  come  before  the  members. 
Changes  in  gild  rules,  severe  discipline  of  members,  unusual 
demands  of  the  officials,  are  all  referred  to  the  members,  and  the 
gild  policy  is  determined  by  their  decision. 

The  Gild  of  the  Blind,  who  make  a  business  of  singing,  story 


172  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

telling  and  entertaining,  holds  its  meetings  on  the  2nd  of  the  3rd 
month  and  the  8th  of  the  Qth  month,  celebrating  the  Chinese  festi- 
vals of  the  3rd  of  the  3rd  moon  and  the  Qth  of  the  Qth  moon, 
as  the  meeting  lasts  until  5  o'clock  the  next  morning.  It  was  our 
good  fortune  to  be  given  the  privilege  of  attending  one  of  these 
meetings.  As  the  gild  has  no  gild  hall,  it  borrows  the  Ching 
Chung  Miao,  a  temple  in  the  South  City,  outside  of  Hatamen, 
and  there,  all  day  long,  a  constant  stream  of  blind  men  was  coming 
and  going.  They  were  greeting  their  friends,  discussing  politics 
and  the  condition  of  business,  and  enjoying  the  tea  and  cakes  that 
had  been  provided ;  and  it  was  a  strange  sight  to  see  so  many  blind 
people  together,  each  with  his  long  bamboo  cane,  tapping,  tapping, 
tapping,  as  they  moved  around  the  hall.  They  were  constantly 
calling  back  and  forth  across  the  hall  as  the  men  tried  to  locate 
their  friends;  and,  when  a  group  wanted  to  move  from  one  part 
of  the  hall  to  another,  they  formed  a  line,  each  with  his  hand  on 
the  shoulder  of  the  man  in  front  of  him,  and  were  led  by  a  man 
who  still  had  a  little  vision  and  so  could  avoid  chairs  and  tables. 
A  very  few  women  came  to  the  meeting ;  they  visited  among  them- 
selves or  listened  to  the  business  being  transacted,  but  did  not 
mingle  with  the  men. 

In  the  evening  the  executive  council  of  forty-eight  met  to 
conduct  the  business  of  the  gild.  They  gathered  around  a  row  of 
tables  arranged  in  the  shape  of  a  tortoise  shell.  The  twenty-four 
men  on  each  side  of  the  table  all  had  different  titles  and  duties 
as  follows: 

Manager  Witness 

President  Adviser 

Vice-President  Inspector 

Judge  Investigator 

Attorney  General  Reporter 

Prosecuting  Attorney  Chief  of  Police 

Grand  Jury  Police 

Jury  of  the  Court  Executioner 

Sheriff  Warrant  Carrier 

Counselor  Time-keeper 

Protector  Door-keeper 

Law  Proctor  Servant  of  the  Court. 

The  office  held  by  the  different  members  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee depended  either  upon  lot  or  the  choice  of  the  general 
manager,  for  one  of  the  men  who  came  to  sit  with  the  foreign 
guests  complained  that  he  had  been  appointed  executioner  and 
did  not  like  the  job. 

The  worship  of  the  gods  of  the  gild  was  the  first  business  of 
the  meeting.  On  the  raised  platform  at  the  upper  end  of  the 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  173 

hall  an  altar  had  been  arranged  for  the  God  of  Heaven,  the  God 
of  Earth,  and  the  God  of  Men,  from  whom  the  gild  gets  its 
name  of  the  "Three  Emperors'  Association."  On  the  wall  were 
hung  the  pictures  of  the  three  gods,  the  Emperor  of  Heaven 
being  in  the  middle  and  slightly  higher  than  the  other  two.  In 
front  of  them,  on  a  table,  was  spread  a  feast  of  chicken,  pork, 
fish,  wine,  vegetables,  fruit  and  rice.  On  the  edge  of  the  table 
burned  two  large  candles  and  the  incense  offered  to  the  gods. 
The  members  of  the  executive  committee  came  up  two  by  two, 
to  offer  to  the  gods  their  obeisance  and  thanks  for  the  prosperity 
of  the  past  year.  They  were  directed  in  their  worship  by  the 
secretary  of  the  gild,  the  one  officer  who  was  not  blind.  First, 
they  were  required  to  straighten  their  clothing,  then  they  bowed 
before  the  gods,  and  then  went  down  on  their  knees  and  bowed 
their  head  to  the  floor  in  the  "K'e  t'ou,"  the  Chinese  sign  of 
submission  and  reverence.  The  bow  and  "K'e  t'ou"  were  re- 
peated three  times,  and  then  the  next  pair  were  brought  up.  All 
the  time  the  worship  was  going  on,  music  was  furnished  by  six 
of  the  best  musicians  of  {he  gild. 

After  all  forty-eight  of  the  officers  had  worshiped  before  the 
gods,  the  musicians  gave  a  two-hour  concert  with  their  best 
songs  and  music.  Any  who  had  written  new  songs  during  the 
past  year  were  called  upon  to  give  them  at  that  time.  Following 
the  concert,  the  business  meeting  was  held  from  12  to  2.  It  con- 
sisted of  reports  and  the  discussion  of  methods  for  strengthen- 
ing the  gild,  and  of  ways  and  means  for  making  the  business  of 
the  blind  entertainers  more  prosperous.  At  the  end  of  the 
meeting,  a  report  giving  a  statement  of  the  condition  of  the 
gild,  a  resume  of  the  business  of  the  past  year,  and  the  names  of 
all  the  officers,  musicians,  committeemen  and  subscribers,  was 
burned  on  the  altar,  so  that  the  gods  might  have  a  complete  report 
of  the  work  and  development  of  the  gild. 

After  the  business  meeting,  the  committee  constituted  itself  a 
court,  tried  the  cases  of  those  who  were  accused  of  having  broken 
the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  gild,  and  heard  and  attempted  to 
settle  cases  where  there  had  been  a  quarrel  or  dispute  between 
any  of  the  members.  When  the  cases  were  brought  before  the 
court,  testimony  was  taken  and  a  verdict  rendered.  Each  of  the 
members  of  the  executive  committee  carried  out  the  duties  of  the 
office  to  which  he  had  been  assigned. 

In  the  olden  days,  the  gilds  used  to  punish  their  younger , 
members  when  convicted  of  violating  the  important  rules  of  the 
association,  by  sentencing  them  to  50,  70  or  100  strokes  of  the 
bamboo,  according  to  the  degree  of  their  guilt.  As  the  gild  felt 
that  no  man  could  completely  break  a  rule,  the  entire  sentence 
was  never  carried  out.  If  a  man  were  sentenced  to  100  blows, 


174  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

the  executioner  would  give  only  90.  The  older  members  were 
punished  by  a  fine.  Those  convicted  of  a  first  degree  offense 
were  fined  one  tael.  For  a  second  degree  offense,  the  fine  was 
seven  mace  (7/10  of  a  tael),  and  for  one  of  the  third  degree, 
three  mace  (3/10  of  a  tael). 

After  the  establishment  of  the  Republic,  the  police  denied 
the  gild  the  right  to  use  the  bamboo  and  insisted  that  other 
punishments  be  used.  As  a  result,  the  gild  has  found  it  hard  to 
enforce  its  rules,  and  but  few  trials  have  been  held  during  the 
last  few  years.  The  gild  officers,  however,  are  planning  to  sus- 
pend for  a  certain  number  of  days  those  who  break  the  rules  of 
the  gilds.  Suspension  will  mean  that  the  guilty  one  will  be 
prevented  from  carrying  on  his  business  during  those  days,  and 
it  is  hoped  that  in  this  way  the  members  can  once  more  be  made 
to  live  up  to  the  rules. 

Following  the  trials,  a  feast  was  served  to  the  committee  and 
visitors  who  were  still  present;  and  then,  after  the  burning  of 
another  paper  before  the  gods,  the  meeting  broke  up  about 
5  A.  M. 

The  requirements  of  the  gilds  concerning  attendance  at  the 
annual  meetings  vary  greatly.  Some  require  that  all  members 
shall  attend,  others  require  that  all  store-keepers  either  attend  in 
person  or  send  a  representative,  but  among  most  of  the  gilds 
attendance  is  optional.  If  the  members  of  the  Confectioners 
and  Barbers  Gilds  do  not  attend  the  meeting,  they  will  be  sus- 
pended. If  a  painter  cannot  show  a  receipt  for  the  fee  paid  by 
those  attending  the  annual  meeting,  he  cannot  be  employed  by  a 
contractor.  The  Jade,  Fur  and  Boot  Gilds  all  require  the  store- 
keepers to  send  a  representative  if  they  cannot  attend  the  meet- 
ing in  person,  but  the  Boot  Gild  requires  that  the  representative 
pay  an  extra  fee  in  addition  to  the  regular  fee  for  the  meeting.1 

In  a  great  many  gilds,  where  attendance  is  not  compulsory, 
the  number  of  workers  who  attend  the  meetings  is  small.  If 
they  attend,  they  not  only  have  to  pay  from  20  to  50  cents  for 
the  meeting,  but  have  to  lose  a  day's  wages  as  well.  This  is  a 
considerable  sum  for  them,  particularly  as  they  have  but  little 
influence  in  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  gild.  They 
have  the  right  to  speak  and  to  vote  for  officers  and  are  eligible 
for  election;  but  they  are  seldom  elected,  as  the  officers  of  the 
gild  serve  without  pay  and  so  must  be  men  with  some  leisure, 
and  in  the  meetings  the  opinion  of  a  man  who  is  a  store-keeper 
carries  much  more  weight  than  that  of  a  worker. 

1  See  Appendix,  report  of  Income  and  Expense  of  the  Boot  Gild. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  175 

GILD    HALLS 

The  gild  organizations  with  their  annual  meetings,  directors' 
meetings,  writers  and  records  require  some  sort  of  office  or 
headquarters.  The  poorer  gilds  have  theirs  in  the  store  of  one 
of  their  members,  or  in  rented  rooms,  while  the  more  well-to-do 
gilds  have  collected  subscriptions  from  their  members,  pur- 
chased land  and  built  a  gild  hall.  Some  of  these  are  beautiful 
buildings  with  large  courtyards,  attractive  gardens,  artificial  rock- 
eries and  fine  furnishings;  others  are  small,  plainly  built  and 
meager  in  their  furnishings.  The  amount  of  money  spent  on  the 
gild  hall  depends  entirely  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  members 
and  their  willingness  to  subscribe  to  the  gild. 

Some  of  the  larger  gilds,  with  their  fine  gild  halls,  give  their 
members  all  the  privileges  of  a  club.  They  can  use  the  gild  hall 
in  entertaining  their  friends,  and  in  the  transaction  of  business, 
and  often  can  make  their  home  there,  as  many  of  the  gilds  have 
rooms  that  can  be  rented  by  the  members. 

Many  of  the  gilds  that  have  no  gild  hall  make  use  of  a  temple 
for  the  worship  of  their  founder  and  for  their  annual  meetings. 
Oftentimes  they  furnish  one  of  the  side  rooms  of  the  temple  as 
a  special  shrine  for  their  patron  saint,  set  up  his  image  there, 
and  arrange  that  the  priest  or  servant  of  the  temple  offer  incense 
before  it  every  day.  Other  gilds,  having  no  gild  hall  and  not 
connected  with  any  temple,  hold  their  meetings  in  some  restau- 
rant or  tea  house.  It  is  much  easier  and  very  much  less  expen- 
sive for  them  to  have  the  customary  feast  served  in  the  restau- 
rant, and  they  can  find  there  all  the  room  and  service  they  n£ed. 
For  the  worship  of  their  patron  saint  they  can  erect  a  temporary 
altar,  using  his  picture  rather  than  his  image. 

WORSHIP 

All  gilds  have  some  deity  or  hero  that  they  worship  as  the 
special  patron  saint  of  their  trade,  and  he  is  usually  the  man  who 
is  supposed  to  have  been  the  founder  of  the  craft,  or  who  in  the 
past  has  shown  wonderful  skill  in  the  trade.  If  there  is  no  one 
who  is  particularly  connected  with  a  trade,  the  gild  adopts  some 
deity  or  hero  who  has  shown,  during  his  lifetime,  characteristics 
they  respect  and  want  their  fellow-workers  to  adopt. 

Lu  Pan,  who  is  worshiped  as  the  founder  of  the  craft  of 
the  carpenters  and  all  wood-workers,  lived  in  the  Province  of 
Shantung  about  the  Fifth  Century  B.  C.  Tradition  has  it  that 
he  was  the  cleverest  man  of  his  generation;  that  he  cultivated 
the  principles  of  reason  and  religion,  knew  a  great  deal  about 
medicine  and  made  things  out  of  wood.  His  skill  in  wood- 


176  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

working  was  such  that  he  never  wasted  any  wood,  and  he  was 
able  to  do  his  sawing  and  cutting  without  the  aid  of  the  lines 
ordinarily  used  by  the  carpenters.  Because  of  this,  he  is  wor- 
shiped by  all  the  carpenters.  He  is  known  as  the  founder  of  all 
engineering  work,  for  he  made  a  sky  ladder  for  use  when  attack- 
ing his  enemies  in  the  air.  This  ladder  raised  and  lowered  itself, 
and  when  fully  raised  reached  the  sky.  The  Chinese  say  that 
perhaps  the  modern  airship  is  the  result  of  the  sky  ladder  of 
Lu  Pan.  He  invented  a  wooden  bird,  which  flew  to  the  sky  and 
did  not  come  back  for  three  days.  This  was  followed  as  a  pat- 
tern by  the  men  of  the  Han  Dynasty,  who  invented  the  paper 
kite,  and  so  Lu  Pan  is  looked  on  as  the  originator  of  all  play- 
things. 

Tai  Shan  was  an  apprentice  of  Lu  Pan,  but  he  was  so  stupid 
that  he  was  disliked  by  his  master.  Finally  he  felt  so  disgraced 
by  his  inability  to  learn  wood-working  that  he  left  Lu  Pan  and 
went  out  to  the  mountains.  As  he  sat  there  disconsolate,  he 
noticed  that  all  around  him  were  groves  of  bamboo;  and  think- 
ing that  bamboo  was  very  much  like  wood,  he  split  it  and  made 
baskets,  tables  and  chairs  with  it.  As  a  result,  he  is  the  hero  of 
the  bamboo  workers,  who  blame  Lu  Pan  because  he  was  not 
able  to  discover  the  abilities  of  his  apparently  dull  apprentice. 

Chu  Ko  Liang,  who  is  worshiped  by  the  makers  of  musical 
instruments,  the  makers  of  machines,  the  bow  makers  and  the 
soldiers,  is  one  of  the  most  popular  of  the  Chinese  heroes.  He 
lived  in  the  Province  of  Shantung  during  the  reign  of  Liu  Pei, 
181-234  A.  D.  His  principal  inventions  were  used  in  extend- 
ing the  territory  controlled  by  Liu  Pei.  He  invented  a  wooden 
cow  and  a  wooden  horse,  both  of  which  operated  mechanically, 
and  were  used  to  carry  the  munitions  for  the  army.  The  wooden 
cow  was  able  to  go  31  li  (10  miles)  every  time  it  was  wound  up. 
He  also  invented  a  cross-bow,  with  which  it  was  possible  to  shoot 
several  arrows  at  once. 

Sun  Pin  is  worshiped  by  the  shoemakers  as  the  founder  of 
their  craft.  He  and  Pang  Ch'uan  were  full  disciples  of  the 
military  genius,  Kui  Ku  Tzu.  When  they  were  on  their  way  to 
take  up  their  studies  they  heard  that  Kui  would  not  teach  them 
both  the  same  thing,  and  so  they  agreed  that  they  would  teach 
each  other  what  they  had  been  taught  by  their  master.  Sun  Pin 
lived  up  to  his  part  of  the  bargain,  but  Pang  Ch'uan  failed  to 
do  so. 

The  stories  of  their  life  as  students  show  that  Sun  Pin  was 
always  ahead  of  Pang  Ch'uan  and  that  Pang  Ch'uan  was  very 
jealous  of  him.  Their  teacher  one  day  tested  their  ability  by 
requiring  them  to  see  which  would  be  able  to  entice  him  out  of 
the  room.  Pang  tried  to  get  him  to  come  out  by  saying  that  a 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  177 

friend  was  coming,  and  that  he  should  come  out  to  greet  him, 
and  again  by  saying  that  there  were  two  dragons  in  the  sky;  in 
both  of  these  attempts  he  failed.  Sun  Pin  succeeded  in  getting 
his  master  to  come  out  of  the  room,  by  saying  it  was  impossible 
for  them  to  deceive  their  wise  teacher,  and  that  he  should  come 
out  and  take  their  place,  and  attempt  to  get  them  to  come  out  of 
the  room.  Kui,  one  day,  sent  his  two  students  to  the  hills  and 
ordered  them  to  find  a  smokeless  fuel.  Pang  Ch'uan  gathered 
dry  sticks  and  straws,  but  they  smoked  when  they  were  burned. 
Sun  Pin  made  charcoal  out  of  the  sticks  that  he  gathered,  and 
so  was  able  to  make  a  fire  without  smoke. 

The  jealousy  of  the  two  students  increased  when  they  were 
appointed  military  officers  of  the  kingdoms  of  Ch'i  and  Wei. 
Pang  Ch'uan  succeeded  in  capturing  Sun  Pin,  and  had  both  his 
feet  cut  off.  To  revenge  this  outrage,  the  soldiers  of  Ch'i  in- 
vaded Wei  and  rescued  Sun  Pin.  Sun  refused  to  allow  them  to 
kill  Pang,  but  arranged  that  he  should  die  by  his  own  hands.  He 
posted  on  a  tree  a  big  sign  saying,  "Under  this  tree  Pang  Ch'uan 
must  die."  As  Pang  walked  by,  he  noticed  the  sign,  and  stop- 
ping to  read  it  was  greeted  with  a  shower  of  arrows.  Fearing 
that  the  arrows  were  meant  for  him  and  that  he  would  be  killed, 
he  fell  on  his  own  sword. 

Sun  Pin,  in  order  that  he  might  hide  the  loss  of  his  feet,  in- 
vented a  covering  for  his  legs,  and  thus  made  the  first  shoes. 

Hai  Ling  Shih  was  the  inventor  of  silk  weaving;  but  the 
merchants  felt  that  it  was  not  suitable  to  have  a  woman  as  the 
patron  saint  of  their  craft,  and,  for  a  time,  worshiped  her 
husband.  Even  that  did  not  seem  exactly  right  to  them,  and 
they  finally  chose  to  worship  Kuan  Sheng  Ti,  a  man  noted  for 
his  faithfulness  and  his  loyalty. 

The  Rice  Merchants  have,  as  their  special  deities,  three 
brothers  who  are  venerated  because  in  olden  times  they  bought 
rice  when  it  was  cheap,  stored  it,  and  then  in  time  of  famine 
and  high  prices  sold  it  at  a  price  that  was  very  much  under  the 
market. 

The  Emperor  Huang  Ti  (2698  B.  C.)  is  the  hero  who  is 
worshiped  by  the  Tailors,  as  he  is  supposed  to  have  invented 
wheeled  vehicles,  pottery,  and  have  taught  the  people  how  to 
use  leaves  and  skins  as  clothes. 

The  Barbers  worship  Lo  Tsu  as  the  founder  of  their  craft, 
for  he  is  supposed  to  have  saved  the  Emperor  of  China  from 
capture  at  the  hands  of  the  Mongols  by  his  quick  wit  in  arrang- 
ing the  Emperor's  hair  so  that  he  looked  like  a  Manchu.1 

A  great  deal  is  made  of  the  worship  of  the  founder  or  patron 
saint  of  the  gild,  and  it  is  always  one  of  the  important  parts  of 

1  See  Appendix,   History  and  Organization  of  the   Barbers   Gild. 


178  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

all  gild  meetings.  The  worship  usually  consists  in  offering  a 
feast  and  burning  incense  before  the  image  or  picture  of  the 
god  of  the  gild,  and  having  all  the  members  bow  before  him. 
In  some  cases,  the  bow  may  be  perfunctory,  but  in  others  the 
men  are  so  anxious  to  get  near  the  altar  when  they  make  their 
bow  that  they  sometimes  come  to  blows.  The  common  worship 
of  the  patron  saint  of  the  gild  is  a  large  factor  in  maintaining  the 
gild's  strength  and  solidarity,  particularly  when  the  craft  is 
carried  on  by  a  large  number  of  men  in  the  more  humble  walks 
of  life.  Those  who  worship  the  same  god  usually  find  it  easy  to 
work  together,  while  those  who  have  different  patron  saints  find 
that  a  stumbling  block  for  cooperation. 

ORGANIZATION 

The  business  of  the  gild  is  carried  on  by  a  President,  Vice- 
President  and  a  Board  of  Directors,  who  are  elected  by  a  vote 
of  the  members.  Theoretically,  any  member  is  eligible  to  hold 
office,  but  practically  the  men  who  are  the  heads  of  the  stores 
and  the  influential  men  in  the  gild  are  the  ones  elected.  The 
ordinary  workers  are  almost  never  chosen ;  they  lack  experience 
and  education.  Furthermore,  the  officers  serve  without  pay, 
and  this  in  itself  makes  it  almost  impossible  for  the  workers  to 
hold  office.  They  are  dependent  for  their  livelihood  upon  the 
money  they  receive  for  their  labor  and  so  cannot  give  the  time 
required  of  the  gild  officers. 

The  members  of  the  Board  of  Directors  are  ordinarily  elected 
by  ballot  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  gild,  though  in  some  cases, 
particularly  in  the  smaller  gilds,  the  directors  are  chosen  without 
the  formality  of  a  ballot,  after  the  names  of  possible  candidates 
have  been  discussed.  In  other  gilds  the  directors  are  appointed 
rather  than  elected.  The  board  of  the  Incense  and  Toilet  Article 
Makers  Gild  is  elected  without  ballot,  while  new  members  of 
the  board  of  directors  of  the  Tailors  Gild  are  appointed  by  the 
man  whose  place  they  take. 

Geographical  representation  on  the  board  of  directors  is  car- 
ried out  by  the  Fur  Gild.  Its  members  are  almost  all  natives  of 
Chihli,  Shansi  and  Shantung  provinces,  and  it  is  the  rule  of  the 
gild  that  natives  of  each  of  these  three  provinces  constitute  not 
less  than  one-quarter  and  not  more  than  one-third  of  the  board. 
The  forty-eight  members  of  the  board  are  divided  into  twelve 
committees,  each  of  which  is  responsible  for  the  affairs  of  the 
gild  for  one  month  each  year.  These  committees  must  include  a 
native  of  each  of  the  three  provinces,  so  that  every  man  may  be 
able  to  get  a  sympathetic  hearing  by  bringing  his  case  before  one 
of  his  fellow  provincials. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  179 

Only  one  gild  was  found  where  the  workers  are  definitely 
represented  on  the  board  of  directors.  In  the  Gild  of  the  In- 
cense and  Toilet  Article  Makers,  twelve  of  the  twenty-eight 
directors  must  be  workers,  the  others  being  either  store-keepers 
or  store  managers. 

The  boards  of  directors  of  the  different  gilds  are  not  all 
uniform  in  size.  In  Peking  the  number  on  the  board  varies  all 
the  way  from  the  two  of  the  Dyeing  Gild  to  the  fifty-one  of  the 
Tailors  and  sixty  of  the  Fertilizer  Gild. 

The  directors  are  ordinarily  elected  for  a  term  of  one  year. 
The  Hat  and  Jade  Gilds  elect  their  directors  for  a  three-year 
term,  but  one-third  of  the  board  retires  every  year.  The  Incense 
and  Toilet  Article  Makers  Gild  elect  their  directors  for  four 
years,  while  the  Shoemakers,  Fur  Dealers  and  Tailors  elect 
theirs  for  life.  The  directors  of  the  Tailors  and  Fur  Gilds 
appoint  their  successors  when  they  retire. 

The  president  and  vice-president  are  chosen  bv  the  board  of 
directors.  In  most  cases  they  are  elected  by  ballot  and  hold  office 
for  a  term  of  one,  two  or  three  years;  but  in  some  gilds  the 
directors  hold  office  in  rotation,  sometimes  for  a  year,  sometimes 
for  a  month,  and  sometimes  for  a  day  each  month. 

The  Hat  and  Jade  Gilds  each  has  a  board  of  directors  of  nine 
men  elected  for  a  three-year  term,  one-third  of  the  board  re- 
tiring every  year.  During  the  third  year  of  their  term  the 
members  of  the  board  automatically  become  president,  vice- 
president  and  general  manager.  -The  Bone  and  Horn  Gild  has  a 
board  of  eighteen  members  elected  for  an  indefinite  time;  each 
of  the  directors,  in  rotation,  taking  charge  of  the  gild  affairs  for 
one  month.  The  members  of  the  board  of  the  Fertilizer  Gild 
are  required  to  be  on  duty  at  the  gild  hall  one  day  each  month, 
and  when  on  duty  are  in  entire  charge  of  the  affairs  of  the  gild. 

The  Paper-Hangers  are  unique,  in  that  they  choose  their 
officers  by  lot.  The  board  of  directors  gather  in  front  of  the 
shrine  of  the  patron  saint  of  the  gild,  and  there,  after  worship-- 
ing before  the  altar,  each  member  draws  a  small  bamboo  stick 
from  a  large  bamboo  cylinder.  The  man  who  draws  the  one 
with  the  word  "President"  on  it  is  president  for  the  ensuing 
year,  and  so  with  the  other  officers. 

The  affairs  of  the  gild  are  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  direc- 
tors and  officers,  unless  something  comes  up  that  demands  a 
special  meeting  of  the  members.  Such  a  meeting  is  called  by 
the  president  of  the  gild. 

One  of  the  principal  duties  of  the  directors,  other  than  hear- 
ing reports  and  supervising  the  officers,  is  to  fix  prices  for  the 
gilds  dealing  in  goods  that  fluctuate  rapidly.  The  directors  of 
the  Bankers  Gild  meet  every  morning-  to  settle  the  price  of 


180  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

Exchange,  while  the  boards  of  the  Cotton  and  Silk  Gilds  meet 
every  week  to  determine  the  ruling  prices.  Where  prices  do  not 
fluctuate  so  rapidly,  the  members  of  the  gild,  rather  than  the 
board  of  directors,  determine  what  the  gild  members  shall  charge 
for  their  goods.  These  prices  are  always  the  minimum.  The 
store-keepers  may  raise  prices  if  a  sudden  change  of  conditions 
makes  it  advisable,  but  they  cannot  reduce  them  below  the  mini- 
mum, for  the  gilds  severely  punish  any  one  who  sells  goods  for 
less  then  the  established  price.  It  is  the  competition  of  price 
cutting  that  the  gilds  particularly  aim  to  avoid.  Many  of  these 
price  lists  are  published  and  posted  in  the  shops.  With  their 
preambles  and  statement  of  the  gild  rules  that  particularly  con- 
cern buying  and  selling,  the  rate  of  exchange  and  the  punishment 
of  those  who  cut  prices,  they  furnish  the  best  printed  informa- 
tion on  the  gilds,  and  give  at  the  same  time  something  of  an 
insight  into  the  Chinese  conception  of  economics  and  business.1 
The  only  gilds  that  fail  to  fix  prices  are  those  who  find  it  im- 
possible to  fix  a  standard  value.  The  Jade  Gild  has  no  price 
list,  as  the  quality  of  the  jade  and  the  amount  of  work  required 
to  cut  it  vary  so  greatly. 

Minor  infractions  of  the  rules  are  ordinarily  dealt  with  by 
the  directors,  but  any  case  of  serious  and  continued  disregard  of 
the  rules  is  brought  before  a  special  meeting  of  the  gild  mem- 
bers to  determine  what  punishment  shall  be  given  to  the  of- 
fender. 

The  officers  of  the  gild  are  responsible  for  enforcing  the  rules 
and  regulations,  and  are  required  to  look  after  the  property  of 
the  gild,  receive  and  disburse  all  money,  and  represent  the  gild 
whenever  it  has  any  dealings  with  the  officials  or  any  outside 
organization.  In  some  gilds  the  officers  attempt  to  mediate  in 
case  any  members  of  the  gild  are  involved  in  a  quarrel  or  busi- 
ness dispute,  while  in  others  such  cases  are  heard  by  a  board 
specially  chosen  for  that  purpose. 

The  ordinary  routine  work  of  the  gild  is  carried  on  by 
writers,  accountants,  clerks  and  servants,  who  are  employed  by 
the  directors  and  paid  from  the  gild  funds. 

In  the  days  of  the  Manchu  Empire,  the  employed  secretary 
of  the  gild  was  one  of  its  most  important  officers.  He  was 
usually  a  man  with  a  literary  degree,  and  so  was  the  representa- 
tive of  the  gild  whenever  any  business  had  to  be  transacted  with 
the  officials.  With  the  coming  of  the  Republic,  the  greater 
democracy  in  government  and  the  change  in  the  educational  sys- 
tem, the  office  of  secretary  has  lost  much  of  its  dignity,  and  most 
of  the  gilds  no  longer  employ  such  a  man.  The  relations  with 
the  officials  are  now  cared  for  by  the  president  of  the  gild  and 

1  For  further  details,  see  Appendix. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  181 

the  drafting  and  writing  of  letters  are  left  to  the  more  humble 
clerks. 

INCOME 

The  gilds  derive  their  income  from  a  variety  of  sources. 
Initiation  fees,  annual,  monthly  or  even  daily  dues,  taxes  on 
sales,  assessments,  fines,  interest  on  the  surplus  funds  of  the 
gild,  rent  for  the  use  of  gild  property  and  contributions  are  all 
used  by  some  of  the  Peking  gilds,  though  never  all  of  them  by 
any  one  gild.  The  actual  amount  collected  by  the  gilds  depends 
entirely  upon  their  needs  and  activities.  Some  maintain  expen- 
sive gild  halls  and  a  large  staff  of  employees,  while  others  have 
no  gild  hall  and  employ  only  a  writer  or  two. 

The  Drug  Gild  charges  a  store-keeper  an  initiation  fee  of 
from  10  to  20  taels  ($i3~$27).  The  Paper-Hangers  Gild  charges 
its  store-keepers  from  $3  to  $10,  depending  upon  the  amount  of 
capital  invested  in  the  store,  while  its  workers  pay  an  initiation 
fee  of  only  $i.  The  Gold  Foil  Beaters  collect  an  annual  fee  of 
from  $10  to  $20  from  each  of  the  15  stores.  Its  workers  pay 
from  $3  to  $4  each.  The  annual  dues  of  the  members  of  the 
Confectioners  Gild  are  30  cents.  The  Pawnbrokers  Gild  charges 
its  store-keepers  $2  a  month,  but  collects  no  dues  from  the  work- 
ers. The  Barbers  Gild  charges  its  shop-keepers  12  coppers  a 
month,  and  the  workers  6.  The  Paper-Hangers,  when  they  are 
working,  pay  one  cent  a  day  to  the  gild.  The  Drug  Gild  gets  its 
regular  income  from  a  5  percent  tax  that  is  levied  on  the  goods 
bought  by  wholesalers  at  the  big  market  held  in  January  of  each 
year.  The  Shoemakers  Gild  collects  a  tax  of  2  percent  on  the 
sales  of  its  members.  The  expenses  of  the  Coal  Gild  are  met  by 
the  dealers,  who  pay  10  cents  to  the  gild  for  every  car  of  coal 
that  they  sell. 

The  contributions  of  the  members  of  the  Sheep  Butchers 
Gild  are  increased  by  an  allowance  from  the  Government.  The 
tax  levied  on  every  sheep  killed  is  collected  from  the  slaughter 
houses  by  the  gild,  and  by  it  paid  to  the  Government.  For  this 
service  the  gild  receives  2  percent  of  the  amount  collected. 

Assessments  are  levied  by  some  of  the  gilds,  but  ordinarily 
for  special  objects.  The  dues  for  the  gild  membership  in  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  are  often  collected  in  this  way.  The 
amount  of  the  assessment  to  be  paid  by  each  store  depends  upon 
the  total  amount  required,  the  capital  of  the  store,  and  the 
amount  of  business  that  it  does.  The  gild  officers  aim  to  equal- 
ize the  burden  as  much  as  possible. 

Any  fines  collected  from  those  who  break  the  gild  rules  are 
used  for  the  general  expenses,  but  apparently  amount  to  only 
a  small  sum.  First  offenses  are  usually  punished  by  requiring 


182  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

the  offender  to  burn  a  certain  number  of  bundles  of  incense  on 
the  altar  of  the  patron  saint  of  the  gild,  and  we  were  unable  to 
learn  of  any  cases  where  gild  members  had  paid  a  fine. 

The  fines,  provided  the  rules  are  broken,  range  ail  the  way 
from  $100,  collected  from  the  Gold  Foil  Beaters,  who  do  not  pay 
the  wages  fixed  by  the  gild,  to  8  cents,  collected  from  the  con- 
tracting painter  who  allows  his  workers  to  sell  their  rest  periods 
when  there  is  a  tea  house  near  their  work.  The  painters  have 
three  rest  periods  a  day,  and  the  gild  rules  require  that  they  go  to 
a  tea  house  if  there  is  one  near  by.  If  there  is  no  tea  house  near, 
the  men  work  during  their  rest  periods  and  receive  extra  pay, 
but  the  contractor  who  allows  his  men  to  work  when  they  should 
go  to  the  tea  house  is  fined  8  cents  for  each  man. 

It  has  been  impossible  to  secure  from  the  gild  officers  any 
details  concerning  the  amount  of  interest  received  or  rent  col- 
lected by  the  various  gilds,  but  a  published  annual  report  of  the 
Shoemakers  stated  that  the  gild  received  259.72  taels,  400 
cash,  as  rent,  and  51.52  taels  as  interest.  The  rent  is  usually 
received  from  members  of  the  gild  who  are  living  in  the  gild 
hall,  while  the  interest  is  paid  by  those  who  use  the  surplus  funds 
of  the  gild.  These  funds  are  sometimes  deposited  in  banks,  but 
more  often  with  some  store  or  restaurant.  The  Chinese  have 
not  developed,  until  recently,  an  extensive  banking  system,  and 
so  those  with  money  to  loan  have  dealt  direct  with  those  who 
want  to  borrow.  As  the  stores  have  been  reliable  and  in  need 
of  capital,  they  have  been  the  natural  depositories  of  the  excess 
funds  of  the  gilds.  Just  how  much  these  funds  amount  to  we 
have  been  unable  to  learn,  but,  as  they  have  been  built  up  over 
a  long  period  of  years,  those  of  the  wealthier  gilds  undoubtedly 
amount  to  large  sums.  The  Craft  Gilds  have  saved  little,  if  any, 
as  most  of  their  members  are  workers  and  so  have  but  little  to 
contribute  to  the  gild. 

Special  contributions  are  collected  only  in  times  of  special 
need.  The  principal  objects  for  which  they  are  solicited  are  the 
building  and  repairing  of  the  gild  hall.  The  investment  in  the 
land  and  buildings  of  the  hall  runs  into  large  amounts;  and,  as 
the  ordinary  income  of  the  gild  is  insufficient  to  build  up  a 
surplus  that  will  cover  it,  and  the  expense  is  so  unusual,  it  is 
met  by  contributions  rather  than  by  assessments. 

A  large  number  of  the  gilds  obtain  their  entire  income  from 
the  fees  that  are  collected  at  the  time  of  the  annual  or  semi- 
annual meetings.  The  outlay  for  those  meetings,  with  their 
feasts,  theatricals  and  worship,1  constitutes  the  larger  part  of 
the  expenses  of  many  of  the  gilds  and  so  is  ordinarily  met  by 

1  For  details  of  these  expenses  see  reports  of  Precious  Stone  Dealers  Gild  and 
Boot  Gild  in  Appendix. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  188 

those  who  attend.  In  some  gilds  this  really  amounts  to  the  pay- 
ment of  the  annual  dues,  because  all  of  the  members  are  required 
to  attend.  In  others,  a  member  pays  the  fee  only  if  he  comes  to 
the  meeting  and  enjoys  the  feast  and  the  play.  The  store- 
keepers always  pay  more  than  the  workers,  ordinarily  twice  as 
much. 

In  the  Fur  Gild,  a  store-keeper  pays  $i  and  a  worker  50 
cents.  The  shop-keepers  of  the  Paper-Hangers  Gild  are  charged 
86  coppers  and  the  workers  56  coppers.  In  the  Fertilizer  Gild 
the  employers  pay  $i,  while  the  workers  who  come  to  the  meeting 
pay  50  cents  apiece.  The  Tailors  Gild  collects  80  cents  from  the 
store-keepers,  40  cents  from  the  store  managers  and  20  cents 
from  the  workers.  It  is  a  special  rule  of  the  Tailors  Gild  that, 
if  the  amount  received  is  not  sufficient  to  cover  the  expenses  of 
the  meeting,  the  deficit  is  met  by  the  members  of  the  board  of 
directors. 

The  report  of  the  Boot  Gild l  shows  the  receipts  for  the 
annual  meeting  to  be  about  $190,  and  the  expenses  $170. 

WAGES 

, 

The  gilds  not  only  fix  the  prices  that  the  merchants  shall 
charge  for  their  goods,  but  also  say  how  much  their  employees 
shall  be  paid.  Just  as  the  gild  maintains  prices  by  severely  pun- 
ishing any  one  found  cutting  them,  so  they  maintain  the  wage 
scale  by  fining  any  employer  who  pays  his  men  less  than  the 
established  rate  and  the  employee  who  works  for  less  than  gild 
wages.  This  system  makes  it  hard  for  the  employees  to  increase 
the  amount  they  receive,  but  it  also  makes  it  impossible  for  the 
employers  to  decrease  wages  whenever  times  are  dull  or  there  is 
an  excess  supply  of  labor. 

The  ordinary  worker  in  Peking  receives  his  room  and  board 
and,  on  the  average,  from  $4.50  to  $6.50  a  month,  the  actual 
amounts  varying  from  $2.50  a  month  paid  by  the  Incense  and 
Cosmetic  Gild  to  the  $36  paid  the  Gold  Foil  Beaters.  The 
store  managers  receive  from  $10  to  $15  a  month.2 

While  wages  are  ordinarily  fixed  on  the  monthly  basis,  some 
gilds  pay  by  the  day  and  others  by  the  piece.  The  painters  re- 
ceive 65  cents  a  day,  board  themselves  and  have  to  pay  5  cents 
to  the  contractor  who  furnishes  them  the  work.  The  paper- 
hangers  receive  board  and  57  cents  a  day  in  spring  and  fall,  and 
77  cents  a  day  in  summer  and  winter.  The  shoe-makers  and 
dyers  are  paid  by  the  piece,  while  a  minimum  amount  of  work 
is  required  of  the  carpet-makers  if  they  are  to  receive  the  gild 
wages  of  $4.50  a  month. 

1  See  Appendix,  report  of  this  gild. 

1  See  Appendix,  schedule  of  Gild  Wages. 


184?  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

Some  of  the  gilds  have  special  customs  concerning  the  wages 
of  the  men.  These  ordinarily  require  that  the  employers  furnish 
the  men  certain  things  in  addition  to  their  board,  or  that  they 
sell  them  supplies  at  reduced  rates.  The  water-carriers  are 
given  their  shoes  and  their  hair  cuts  by  their  employers;  while 
the  employees  of  the  Dyeing  Gild,  although  they  are  not  given 
their  board,  are  allowed  to  purchase  rice  from  their  employers 
for  $2.40  a  picul  (100  catties — 133  pounds),  even  though  the 
market  price  of  rice  may  be  $10  or  $12  a  hundred  catties. 

In  the  gilds  where  the  hours  of  work  are  definitely  fixed,  the 
men  are  paid  extra  for  overtime.  The  employees  of  the  Drug 
Gild  receive  10  cents  extra,  whenever  they  work  overtime ;  but  the 
customary  rule  of  the  gilds  is  that  those  who  do  night  work  as 
well  as  the  regular  day  work  receive  double  pay. 

Apprentices  do  not  ordinarily  receive  the  full  gild  wage  as 
soon  as  they  have  completed  their  apprenticeship,  but  start  in  at 
from  50  cents  to  $i  a  month,  and  then  are  gradually  paid  more 
and  more  until  they  receive  the  regular  gild  wages. 

Some  gilds  provide  that  their  workers  shall  receive  double 
pay  for  the  twelfth  or  the  fifth,  eighth  and  twelfth  months.  The 
fifth  and  eighth  moons  are  the  festival  months  of  the  old  Chinese 
calendar,  while  double  pay  for  the  twelfth  month  gives  the  men 
extra  money  for  the  New  Year  season,  when  everybody  must 
pay  up  his  debts,  when  all  the  gilds  give  their  men  a  vacation, 
and  when  all  the  Chinese  families  celebrate. 

Profit-sharing  is  practiced  by  some  gilds,  but  it  is  ordinarily 
the  store  managers  rather  than  the  employees  who  receive  the 
benefit  of  any  distribution.  In  the  Shoemakers  and  Pawn- 
brokers Gilds,  the  managers  receive,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  5 
percent  of  the  net  profits  of  the  store.  In  the  Dyeing  Gild  they 
are  given  from  7  percent  to  8  percent,  while  in  the  Fertilizer 
Gild  they  receive  20  percent  of  the  profits.  In  the  Incense  and 
Cosmetic  Gild  the  managers  and  men  divide  2  percent  or  3 
percent  of  the  net  profits,  provided  business  has  been  good; 
while  in  the  Hat  and  Undertakers  Gilds  the  men  alone  share  in 
the  profits.  The  former  divides  among  the  employees  2  percent 
to  3  percent  of  the  profits,  while  the  latter  gives  them  5  percent. 

China  has  been  affected  by  the  general  rise  in  the  cost  of 
living,  but  the  increase  has  been  very  much  slower  than  in  other 
countries.  Consequently,  wages  have  increased  only  slightly  in 
recent  years.  Even  in  the  last  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  the 
increase  is  only  from  60  to  150  percent.1  The  employers  have 
apparently  granted  the  increases  quite  willingly  without  much 
pressure  from  the  employees.  With  the  small  shop  and  appren- 
tice systems  used  by  the  Chinese,  the  employers  are  in  very  close 

1  See  Appendix,  schedule  of  Gild  Wages. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  185 

touch  with  their  employees,  and  so  are  willing  to  give  their  men 
an  increase  whenever  living  conditions  demand  it.  In  Peking, 
only  two  cases  were  found  where  the  men  had  gone  on  strike  to 
enforce  a  demand  for  higher  wages.  Both  of  these  were  in  1885, 
and  in  both  cases  the  men  lost.  Now,  the  usual  procedure  is  for 
the  men  to  get  together  and  draw  up  a  demand  or  request  for 
higher  wages  and  then  present  it  to  their  employers.  The  matter 
then  comes  before  the  gild,  or  a  committee  of  the  gild,  who1  hears 
both  sides  of  the  case  and  decides  what  shall  be  done.  Usually 
the  decision  of  the  committee  is  a  compromise. 

With  such  a  situation,  the  workers  are  ordinarily  able  to  main- 
tain  their  standard  of  living,  but  they  are  not  able  to  better  it. 
Only  one  gild  was  found  in  Peking  that  had  recently  decreased 
its  wages,  namely,  the  Carpet-makers  Gild,  where  wages  have 
gone  down  almost  50  percent.  This  decrease  has  come  about 
because  a  large  number  of  the  stores  have  become  bankrupt, 
owing  to  the  money  situation  in  Peking,  where  the  notes  of  the 
Bank  of  China  and  Bank  of  Communication  are  accepted  only  at 
a  large  discount,  and  to  the  loss  of  markets  when  most  countries 
put  an  embargo  on  rugs  during  the  war.  In  the  spring  of  1916 
there  were  220  carpet  manufacturers  belonging  to  the  gild,  while 
in  1918  there  were  only  68.  This,  and  a  change  in  the  method 
of  manufacture  whereby  a  much  larger  proportion  of  apprentices 
are  employed,  made  it  possible  to  lower  wages  and  introduce  sweat- 
shop conditions. 

HOURS   OF   WORK 

Work  all  day  and  seven  days  a  week  is  the  usual  rule  through- 
out China.  The  working  day  established  by  the  Peking  gilds 
averages  10  hours  for  those  who  are  manufacturing  goods,  and 
from  12  to  14  hours  for  those  who  are  selling  them.  Most  of 
the  shops  stop  work  at  5  or  6  o'clock,  but  the  stores  keep  open 
until  10  or  10 130.  One  case  was  found  where  an  apprentice  was 
working  19  hours  a  day.  It  was  his  duty  to  carry  meals  from  a 
restaurant  to  the  homes  in  the  neighborhood,  besides  doing  a 
multitude  of  tasks  around  the  shop.  He  started  work  at  5  in  the 
morning,  and  did  not  get  to  bed  until  12  at  night.  Such  a  case  is 
undoubtedly  exceptional,  but  14  and  15  hours  a  day  for  salesmen 
are  not  at  all  unusual.  It  must  always  be  remembered,  however, 
that  life  goes  along  much  more  leisurely  in  China  than  it  does  in 
the  western  countries,  and  although  a  man  may  be  on  duty  for  long 
hours,  he  is  not  actively  engaged  during  all  of  the  time. 

The  long  hours  are  the  hardest  on  the  apprentices,  as  most  of 
them  are  boys  from  14  to  18  years  of  age.  A  great  deal  of  work 
is  required  of  them,  and  they  fail  to  have  any  educational  oppor- 
tunities, except  along  the  line  of  their  trade.  The  men  suffer 


186 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


from  the  long  hours,  as  any  home  life  is  practically  impossible 
for  most  of  them.  Consequently,  they  leave  their  families  behind 
them  when  they  come  to  the  city  for  work,  and  we  find  that  two 
out  of  every  three  persons  in  Peking  are  males. 

While  most  of  the  manufacturing  gilds  establish  a  10  or  1 1 
hour  day  as  their  standard,  many  of  them  have  night  work  during 
the  busy  season.  The  members  of  the  Peking  Bone  Gild  ordinarily 
work  from  7  to  6,  but  have  extra  night  work  from  August  I5th 
to  March  2nd. 

Vacations  are  few  and  far  between.  Chinese  New  Year's 
Day  is  the  only  universal  holiday,  though  many  observe  the  5th 
of  the  5th  moon  and  the  1 5th  of  the  8th  moon,  the  Dragon  Festi- 
val and  the  Feast  of  the  Departed  Spirits.  For  some  gilds,  the 
New  Year's  vacation  amounts  to  only  one  day;  others  give  their 
men  six  days  and  some  even  stop  work  for  fifteen  days.  For  the 
festival  days  the  vacation  is  a  day  or  two  at  the  most.  Some  of 
the  gilds  are  beginning  to  give  their  men  two  rest  days  a  month, 
usually  the  ist  and  I5th,  but  these  are  very  few. 

The  situation  in  Hangchow,  Chekiang,  seems  to  show  the 
reason  for  the  lack  of  vacations.  In  that  city,  some  of  the  stores 
allow  any  of  their  men  who  can  show  a  certificate  of  membership 
in  one  of  the  Christian  Churches  to  have  Sunday  off  without 
reducing  their  wages.  The  store-keepers  admit  that  the  man  who 
has  one  day  off  a  week,  and  uses  it  properly,  gives  as  much,  if  not 
more,  service  in  six  days  than  do  those  who  work  seven  days  a 
week.  Experience  has  shown  that  the  church  members  use  their 
Sundays  well,  and  that  the  other  men  do  not.  It  is  almost  uni- 
versal that  if  the  men  are  given  time  off,  they  use  it  for  gambling 
and  other  forms  of  dissipation. 

China  greatly  needs  to  shorten  the  hours  of  work  of  her  men, 
and  to  make  it  possible  for  her  boys  to  get  an  education  before 
they  go  into  industry ;  but  such  a  change  can  only  come  gradually 
as  the  educational  system  develops  and  as  the  men  learn  to  use 
wisely  the  added  leisure  time.  If  they  are  to  do  this,  they  must 
be  helped  in  the  development  of  good  forms  of  recreation  and  other 
interests  that  can  be  enjoyed  without  too  much  expense. 


APPRENTICESHIP 

"You  can't  work  on  this  job.  You  have  never  served  an  ap- 
prenticeship, and  it  is  only  after  you  have  been  a  servant  for 
three  years  that  you  can  begin  to  learn  something,"  is  the  way 
men  in  a  machine  shop  in  Peking  greeted  some  students  from  one 
of  the  Government  Schools  who  were  trying  to  get  some  practical 
training  by  working  in  a  shop.  It  is  practically  true  that  a  mart 
cannot  get  work  in  the  city  unless  he  has  served  an  apprenticeship- 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  187 

The  gilds  all  insist  that  their  members  shall  have  served  their 
time,  and  the  boys  who  are  being  given  mechanical  and  industrial 
training  in  the  schools  are  finding  it  difficult  to  get  positions,  as, 
no  matter  what  they  have  studied,  they  are  not  supposed  to  know 
anything  until  they  have  been  through  the  regular  gild  routine. 

The  boy  who  plans  to  enter  manufacturing  or  selling  ordi- 
narily starts  his  training  when  he  is  14  or  15  years  of  age.  At 
that  time  he  is  bound  to  a  master  by  a  contract,  drawn  according 
to  the  rules  of  the  gild.  This  contract  is  usually  for  a  three-year 
term,  though  it  may  be  for  only  a  one-year  term  as  in  the  Confec- 
tionery and  the  Incense  and  Cosmetic  Gilds,  or  it  may  be  for  even 
ii  years  as  it  is  for  the  most  expert  workers  in  the  Jade  Gild. 
The  apprentice  is  required  to  serve  out  his  full  time,  or  his  master 
will  expect  to  be  reimbursed  for  the  money  that  he  has  spent  for 
his  board  and  lodging,  and  in  some  gilds  will  collect  damages  for 
the  breaking  of  the  contract.  The  apprentices  of  the  Cooks  Gild 
who  do  not  complete  their  term  must  pay  for  their  board  and 
also  pay  a  fine  of  a  feast  of  10  tables  and  300  catties  of  rice. 
Such  payments  are  always  made,  as  two  men  must  act  as  guar- 
antors for  the  apprentice  when  his  contract  is  signed. 

During  the  time  of  his  apprenticeship,  the  boy  is  entirely  under 
the  control  of  his  master.  He  lives  in  his  store,  eats  his  rice,  is 
subject  to  his  discipline,  does  any  work  that  is  given  him,  and 
has  a  chance  to  go  home  only  on  vacation  days  or  when  there  is  a 
wedding  or  funeral  in  the  family.  All  of  the  reports  telling  of 
the  duties  of  the  apprentice  state  that  he  is  to  sweep  out  the  store, 
make  his  master's  bed,  do  the  cooking  and  other  menial  tasks,  and 
then  work  at  his  trade. 

In  return  for  the  services  of  the  apprentice,  the  master  is  re- 
quired by  all  the  gilds  to  give  him  his  food  and  lodging,  and  teach 
him  the  trade.  Some  gilds  also  require  the  master  to  furnish 
clothes  for  the  apprentices,  and  still  others  that,  besides  clothes, 
he  supply  medicine  or  doctor's  services  when  needed.  In  Peking 
there  seems  to  be  no  limit  to  the  number  of  apprentices  that  may 
enter  any  gild.  An  employer  is  apparently  allowed  to  have  all  the 
apprentices  for  whom  he  can  find  work.  It  has  been  impossible 
to  find  in  Peking  any  trace  of  regulations,  known  to  exist  in  other 
cities,  that  limit  apprenticeship  to  the  sons  or  relatives  of  the 
men  already  engaged  in  the  trade. 

Although  there  is  no  limit  to  the  number  of  apprentices,  and 
the  proportion  of  apprentices  and  graduate  workers  varies  from 
gild  to  gild,  most  of  the  gilds  have  one  apprentice  to  every  three 
or  four  workers.  The  extremes  are  found  in  the  Fur  Gild 
where  the  apprentices  outnumber  the  workers,  three  to  two,  and 
in  the  Cotton  Dyeing  Gild  *  where  there  are  nine  workers  to  every 

1  See  Appendix,  table  of  Gild   Members  and  Apprentices. 


188  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

apprentice.  The  detailed  study  of  all  the  stores  in  a  district  of 
Peking  showed  that  there  the  proportion  was  one  apprentice  to 
every  5.8  workers.1 

Many  of  the  rules  for  apprentices  and  some  of  the  philosophy 
of  the  Chinese,  concerning  the  man  who  is  beginning  his  business 
life,  have  been  written  down  and  are  taught  apprentices  by  con- 
stant drill.  The  Chinese  idea  of  the  proper  way  for  a  young  man 
to  start  his  business  training  is  given  in  this  maxim, 

"If  you  want  to  learn  to  be  a  merchant,  you  should  not  be  an  appren- 
tice in  a  large  shop.  In  the  large  stores,  everything  is  very  luxurious 
because  the  store  has  a  large  capital.  The  food  is  excellent  and  the 
clothes  of  the  employees  are  made  of  satin.  If  you  work  there  you  will 
become  used  to  luxurious  ways  and  will  fail  in  your  future  profession, 
even  though  you  may  be  an  able  merchant.  The  best  way  is  to  start  in 
a  small  economical  place,  for  there  is  no  wealth  in  the  world  that  will 
last  forever.  If  you  have  worked  in  a  large  shop  and  are  obliged  to 
leave  it  because  of  trouble,  you  will  not  be  willing  to  enter  a  small  store 
even  though  you  may  be  able  to  find  an  opening  in  one.  Young  men 
should  go  first  to  a  small  shop  with  small  capital.  In  this  shop,  what  you 
do  does  not  involve  a  great  deal  of  money.  The  clothes  you  wear  will 
be  made  of  coarse  cloth,  and  the  food  you  eat  will  be  common  food. 
You  will  waste  no  money.  You  must  learn  to  be  economical  and  must 
avoid  the  luxurious  and  extravagant.  Your  daily  life  will  be  that  of  the 
master's  family.  You  will  have  experience  with  hard  work,  and,  after 
you  have  opened  and  closed  the  gate,  you  will  learn  that  the  making 
of  money  is  not  easy.  After  you  have  learned  how  to  manage  the 
business  of  a  family,  you  will  have  learned  how  to  deal  with  others. 
If  you  go  to  a  large  shop  after  you  have  really  learned  what  trade  is, 
you  will  not  do  things  in  a  wrong  way,  but  will  become  a  prominent  man. 
The  old  Proverb  says,  'If  you  cannot  endure  the  sting  of  the  cold  wind, 
how  can  you  enjoy  the  perfume  of  the  rose  it  will  bring  to  you?'  'No 
pain  is  no  gain.'  'If  you  keep  near  the  vermillion,  you  will  become  red; 
if  near  the  ink,  you  will  become  black.'  In  general,  it  is  easy  to  ask  a 
man  to  give  up  a  lowly  position  and  take  a  higher  one,  but  it  is  not 
easy  for  any  one  to  give  up  a  higher  position  and  take  a  lower  one. 
This  is  true  at  all  times  and  in  all  places." a 

The  work  of  the  apprentice  is  listed  thus, 

"The  speed  with  which  an  apprentice  learns  and  the  way  he  learns 
depend  upon  the  skill  of  the  apprentice,  but  all  should  first  learn  to  do 
the  general  things  around  the  store,  cleaning,  cooking,  etc.,  and  have  real 
practice  in  doing  them.  Then  they  can  learn  how  to  look  and  listen  and 
move,  then  how  to  judge  money,  how  to  do  arithmetic  and  how  to  write 
letters,  then  the  rules  of  courtesy,  etc. 

"You  apprentices  should  not  sit  down  during  the  day  except  at  the  table, 
because  the  men  in  the  shop  are  all  your  elders  or  teachers. 

"You  apprentices  must  not  speak  when  other  men  are  talking.  You 
should  hear  but  not  speak.  You  should  always  keep  your  eyes  open  but 
seldom  open  your  mouth." 

1  See  Appendix,  Statistics  of  Teng  Shih  K'ou  District. 

*  Additional  Maxims  and  Rules  for  Apprentices  are  given  in  the  Appendix. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  189 

The  Chinese  idea  of  teaching  and  knowledge  is  well  given 
in  the  maxim  that  says,1 

"You  apprentices  should  not  be  afraid  to  ask  questions.  If  there  is 
something  that  you  do  not  fully  understand,  about  judging  money,  doing 
arithmetic,  writing  letters,  talking  business  or  acting  courteously,  you 
should  ask  some  older  man  to  tell  you  about  it.  You  should  not  keep 
your  mouth  shut  like  a  wooden  image.  If  you  ask  an  older  man 
politely,  he  will  be  glad  to  teach  you,  for  when  he  teaches  you  he  loses 
nothing.  He  just  uses  his  tongue.  But  you  gain  knowledge  that  you 
can  keep  and  that  soldiers,  robbers  and  fire  cannot  steal  or  destroy.' 

Concerning  extra  education,  the  maxims  say, 

"After  a  meal,  if  you  have  no  work  to  do,  you  can  sit  at  the  counter 
and  learn  to  write.  Every  character  must  be  neat  and  tidy  so  they  will 
show  care  and  attention.  But  you  must  remember  that  you  are  only 
occupying  your  leisure  time.  If  some  duties  come  up  that  should  be 
attended  to  at  once,  you  must  not  write  any  more.  The  sages  say,  'After 
work,  if  you  still  have  time  and  strength,  you  ought  to  use  them  for 
study.' 

"At  night,  when  you  have  nothing  to  do,  you  should  learn  to  calculate. 
You  can  ask  somebody  to  show  you  how  to  do  it,  but  at  the  same  time 
you  must  think  and  try  to  find  out  how  to  do  it  yourself.  In  other 
words,  do  not  rely  on  others  and  waste  your  brain.  The  abacus  is  in 
general  use  in  commercial  circles,  and  you  must  learn  how  to  use  it. 
Calculating  with  the  pen  is  a  modern  method  and  must  be  learned  as  well." 

There  seems  to  be  only  one  case  in  which  the  customs  of  the 
gild  put  the  apprentice  ahead  of  the  worker.  In  the  Paper- 
Hangers  Gild  it  is  always  the  rule  that  an  apprentice  who  is 
making  paste  in  a  tea  house  shall  be  the  first  one  served  with  tea, 
no  matter  how  many  regular  workers  are  waiting. 

When  he  has  finished  his  term  of  service,  an  apprentice  is 
graduated  and  received  as  a  regular  member  of  the  gild.  Some 
gilds  require  a  man  to  work  in  his  master's  shop  for  a  year  after 
his  graduation,  but  ordinarily  he  is  free  to  work  wherever  he  can 
find  employment.  If  the  apprentice  has  any  real  ability,  his 
former  master  is  usually  willing  to  employ  him,  and  so  most  of 
the  men  stay  right  on  in  the  shop  where  they  have  received  their 
training.  It  is  this  close  relationship  between  the  employers  and 
the  employees  that  makes  it  possible  for  both  to  belong  to  the 
same  organization  without  a  clash  of  interests,  and  this  explains 
how  it  is  that  the  employers  are  willing  to  raise  wages  even  when 
the  workers  do  not  force  the  increase. 

At  the  time  of  graduation,  the  apprentices  usually  give  some 
public  recognition  and  thanks  to  the  master  who  has  trained 
them.  In  some  cases  they  simply  bow  to  him  before  the  shrine 
of  the  patron  saint  of  the  gild ;  but  in  others  the  rules  of  the  gild 
require  that  they  give  a  feast  to  their  master  and  some  of  the 

1  See  Appendix,  Maxims  and  Rules  for  Apprentices. 


190  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

gild  members.  The  rules  of  the  Cooks  Gild  require  an  apprentice 
to  give  his  master  a  pair  of  shoes,  a  hat,  a  belt  and  a  long  coat. 

Whatever  we  may  think  of  the  apprenticeship  system,  as  com- 
pared with  our  western  methods  of  training,  it  has  undoubtedly 
fitted  well  with  the  Chinese  life.  In  the  past  there  has  been  but 
little  chance  for  a  boy  to  get  an  education  unless  he  studied  the 
classics,  a  long  and  laborious  process.  It  led  to  official  position  if 
a  man  kept  at  it  long  enough  and  had  the  necessary  ability,  but 
it  was  too  expensive  a  process  for  most.  The  apprenticeship 
training  gave  the  boy  the  education  he  needed  for  his  trade,  made 
him  thoroughly  acquainted  with  hard  menial  work,  and  then 
taught  him  his  trade  by  constant  daily  contact.  It  also  made  it 
possible  for  him  to  get  his  training  without  expense  to  his  family, 
a  very  considerable  item  when  so  many  families  have  just  enough 
to  live  on. 

For  the  master,  it  supplied  cheap  labor  for  the  menial  work 
around  the  store  and  house,  while  for  the  gild  it  secured  the 
strength  and  solidarity  of  the  organization.  With  a  three  years' 
apprenticeship  required,  there  could  not  be  a  rapid  influx  of  men 
in  times  of  prosperity,  and  the  men  could  not  leave  in  times  of 
depression.  Gild  traditions  and  customs  were  easily  maintained, 
as  a  boy  in  constant  contact  with  them  for  three  years  would  be 
ready  to  accept  them  without  question,  particularly  when  he  had 
learned  them  from  his  master  and  teacher.  In  China  the  relation 
between  the  teacher  and  pupil  is  such  that  what  the  teacher  says 
is  accepted  without  question,  and  a  pupil  is  always  unwilling  to 
do  anything  that  will  go  against  his  teacher. 

The  development  of  the  national  educational  system,  and  the 
increase  of  new  manufacturing  methods,  will  end  the  apprentice- 
ship system  in  time,  particularly  as  the  schools  develop  methods 
whereby  the  boys  can  get  more  and  better  training  in  industrial 
lines  in  a  shorter  time;  but,  during  the  transition  period,  many  of 
those  with  the  school  training  are  going  to  find  it  hard  to  make 
use  of  their  skill  because  of  the  conservatism  of  the  gilds. 


GENERAL  RULES 

The  gild  rules,  besides  fixing  prices,  wages,  hours  of  work 
and  the  length  of  apprenticeship,  touch  a  multitude  of  things 
connected  with  the  life  of  its  members.  It  has  been  the  gilds, 
rather  than  the  Government,  that  have  established  and  maintained 
trade  standards  of  weight,  measure  and  quality,  though  the  ones 
adopted  by  the  different  gilds  have  not  necessarily  been  the  same. 
Even  now,  there  are  12,  15  and  16  ounce  "catties"  in  use  as 
standards  of  weight,  the  tailor's  rule  and  the  carpenter's  rule 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  191 

are  not  the  same  length,  and  there  are  numerous  "taels"  used  in 
accounting  and  the  making  of  payments.  These  taels  all  have  a 
different  exchange  rate  when  converted  into  dollars.  Trouble 
over  the  question  of  which  tael  should  be  used  was  one  of  the 
chief  reasons  for  the  establishment  of  the  Peking  Fur  Gild. 

The  details  of  the  relations  between  the  merchants  and  the 
public,  between  different  merchants,  and  between  employers  and 
employees,  are  also  covered  by  the  gild  rules.  The  Barbers  Gild  l 
will  not  allow  its  members  to  try  to  get  business  away  from  each 
other.  When  a  regular  customer  leaves  one  shop  and  goes  to 
another,  the  second  barber  cannot  do  the  work  at  the  old  rate,  but 
must  charge  10  percent  more  than  the  first  shop.  Nor  will  the 
gild  allow  all  of  the  workers  in  a  shop  to  leave  at  the  same  time, 
unless  they  have  given  three  days'  notice.  The  Fertilizer  Gild 
does  not  allow  its  workers  to  change  employers  except  at  New 
Year's  time. 

The  barbers  are  not  allowed  to  wear  their  hair  long,  and  must 
not  drink  wine  during  the  day.  The  eating  of  onions  and  garlic 
is  absolutely  forbidden.  The  gild  rules  even  state  that  the  barbers 
must  clean  their  combs  as  soon  as  they  have  finished  their  work. 
They  also  insist  that  the  members  must  bring  any  quarrels  or 
lawsuits  they  may  have  before  a  gild  committee  and  allow  it  to 
attempt  to  settle  the  case  before  they  take  it  to  an  official. 

In  the  past,  any  monopoly  like  a  patent  or  copyright  was 
secured  from  the  gild ;  but  most  gilds  were  unwilling  to  let  any 
of  their  members  have  that  sort  of  an  advantage.  Even  the  Silk 
Weaving  Gild  refused  to  give  its  members  the  right  to  the  exclu- 
sive use  of  any  pattern  that  they  worked  out  and  found  success- 
ful. One  of  the  metal  trades,  although  not  giving  a  distinct 
monopoly  on  a  new  design,  gave  the  inventor  a  price  advantage 
that  practically  amounted  to  a  monopoly.  The  gild  established  the 
price  at  which  the  new  article  might  be  sold,  and  then  allowed 
the  originator  to  sell  those  that  he  made  for  10  percent  less  than 
the  established  price. 

Since  the  establishment  of  the  Republic,  regulations  have  been 
adopted  b^  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce,  whereby 
the  Government  gives  inventors  a  five-year  monopoly  in  the  manu- 
facture of  patented  articles.  Many  of  the  gilds  are  now  encour- 
aging their  members  to  secure  patents,  and  some  are  offering  to 
help  them  make  the  proper  applications. 

As  far  as  the  investigation  showed,  none  of  the  gilds  puts  any 
limitation  on  the  output  of  their  members.  Every  manufacturer 
is  allowed  to  make  and  sell  as  much  as  he  can,  provided  he  does 
not  sell  below  the  established  gild  prices.  Nor  does  there  appear 
to  be  any  limitation  on  the  output  of  the  individual  worker.  The 

1  For  complete  regulations  of  the  Barbers  Gild,  see  Appendix. 


192  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

only  rule  is  that  any  man  who  is  employed  must  be  paid  the 
regular  gild  wages. 

ENFORCEMENT    OF    RULES    AND    PUNISHMENT    OF    OFFENDERS 

With  the  rules  touching  so  many  sides  of  the  life  of  their 
members,  the  gilds  find  it  necessary  to  have  some  system  whereby 
they  may  be  sure  that  all  the  members  obey  the  rules.  Most  of 
the  limitations  are  put  on  the  individual  for  the  benefit  of  the 
group ;  and,  if  any  one  were  able  to  disregard  the  rules,  he  would 
be  able  to  make  a  large  profit  for  himself. 

In  all  of  the  gilds  the  members  watch  each  other.  Every  one 
who  lives  up  to  the  rules  is  on  the  lookout  to  see  that  all  of  his 
fellow-members  obey  them.  Where  the  type  of  business  permits, 
the  shops  of  many  of  the  gilds  are  located  in  a  small  district,  or 
even  on  a  single  street,  so  that  the  merchants  can  watch  each 
other.  Peking  has  its  Lantern  Street,  Embroidery  Street,  Silver 
Street,  Pig  Market  Street.  Some  gilds  even  offer  rewards  to  any 
of  the  members  who  report  any  infraction  of  the  rules. 

Many  gilds  employ  inspectors,  who  go  from  shop  to  shop, 
checking  up  all  matters  covered  by  the  gild  rules.  In  some  gilds, 
particularly  those  who  get  their  income  from  a  tax  on  the  amount 
of  business  done  by  its  members,  the  books  of  the  stores  are 
gone  over  either  by  these  inspectors  or  by  a  committee  of  repre- 
sentatives from  other  stores.  Whatever  system  is  used,  it  is 
hard  for  the  men  to  keep  any  of  their  business  transactions  secret. 

Many  gilds  also  employ  spies  to  assist  the  members  and  in- 
spectors in  hunting  out  any  carefully  hidden  infractions  of  the 
rules. 

Any  one  found  breaking  the  rules  is  reported  to  the  gild,  and, 
if  proved  guilty,  is  punished  according  to  the  rules  of  the  gild; 
or,  if  there  are  no  rules,  his  punishment  is  determined  by  those 
who  hear  the  case.  Minor  cases  ordinarily  come  before  either 
the  board  of  directors  or  a  committee  appointed  to  hear  such 
cases,  while  the  more  serious  ones  are  usually  passed  on  by  the 
gild  members  in  a  special  meeting  called  for  that  purpose.  No 
matter  who  hears  the  case,  the  accused  is  given  an  opportunity  to 
clear  himself  if  he  can;  but,  unless  one  member  is  trying  to  perse- 
cute another,  cases  are  not  ordinarily  reported  unless  the  evidence 
is  very  clear. 

For  minor  infractions  of  the  rules,  the  gilds  ordinarily  exact 
a  fine  from  the  offending  member.  It  may  be  only  a  few  bundles 
of  incense  to  be  burned  on  the  altar  of  the  god  of  the  gild,  it 
may  be  a  theatrical  performance  to  be  given  for  the  enjoyment 
of  the  gild  members,  or  it  may  be  a  small  or  large  monetary  fine. 
The  Jade  Gild  states  that  any  one  of  its  members  who  does  not 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  193 

properly  behave  at  the  time  of  the  worship  of  the  patron  saint 
of  the  gild  shall  be  fined  100  bundles  of  incense.  If  a  director 
misbehaves,  he  receives  a  double  fine.  If  a  member  of  the  Gold 
Foil  Beaters  Gild  is  found  to  be  paying  less  than  the  gild  wages, 
he  will  be  required  to  entertain  the  gild  members  with  a  theatrical 
performance  costing  some  hundred  dollars.  The  Painters  Gild 
requires  that  a  contractor  who  allows  his  men  to  work  during  the 
daily  rest  periods,  decreed  by  the  gild,  shall  pay  a  fine  of  8  cents 
for  each  man,  while  if  he  employs  a  man  who  cannot  show  a 
receipt  for  his  contribution  to  the  annual  meeting  of  the  gild  he 
will  be  fined  $i.  The  members  of  the  Carpet  Makers  Gild  are 
fined  $50  if  they  employ  any  one  who  has  not  a  gild  certificate  of 
graduation  from  apprenticeship,  if  they  cut  wages,  or  if  they 
employ  any  one  who  has  been  suspended  by  the  gild  for  breaking 
the  rules.  The  fines  are  used  by  the  gilds  for  the  benefit  of  the 
entire  membership. 

In  case  of  serious  or  continued  infraction  of  the  rules,  the 
gilds  suspend  or  expel  a  member.  This  practically  means  com- 
mercial death  to  him.  If  he  is  a  worker,  no  gild  member  will 
employ  him ;  while  if  he  is  a  store-keeper,  none  of  the  members 
will  have  any  business  dealings  with  him  for  fear  that  they  will 
share  his  punishment.  Some  gilds  will  even  boycott  any  out- 
siders who  deal  with  a  suspended  member.  The  Jade  Gild  sus- 
pends its  members  for  non-payment  of  any  fee  for  which  they 
may  be  assessed  by  the  board  of  directors.  The  members  of  the 
Fur  Gild  are  suspended  if  they  do  not  settle  any  credit  accounts 
within  one  month  from  the  time  the  goods  are  purchased.  The 
Fertilizer  Gild  states  that  it  will  expel  any  member  who  steals 
from  another,  or  any  one  using  the  gild  funds  for  his  own  per- 
sonal benefit.  Other  gilds  merely  state  that  a  special  meeting  of 
the  members  will  be  called  to  try  any  one  reported  for  breaking 
the  rules,  and  that  the  meeting  will  determine  the  punishment  of 
those  who  are  found  guilty. 

Although  punishments  are  provided  for  the  offending  mem- 
bers, the  rules  of  the  gilds  are  so  well  established  and  so  univer- 
sally accepted  that  there  is  little  if  any  infraction  of  them.  The 
individual  merchant  knows  only  too  well  what  will  happen  to 
him  if  he  goes  against  the  decrees  of  the  gild.  It  is  practically 
impossible  for  him  to  change  his  trade  or  business  ;  and  his  fellow- 
merchants  control  so  completely  his  chance  for  making  a  living, 
that  he  lives  up  to  the  gild  rules,  even  though  they  work  a  hard- 
ship on  him  or  even  make  him  the  victim  of  the  will  of  the 
majority. 


194.  PEEING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

THE   GILD   COURTS 

The  securing  of  justice  in  China  in  the  past  has  been  difficult 
and  precarious.  There  has  been  but  little  national  law,  local  cus- 
toms have  prevailed,  and  these  have  varied  tremendously  from 
place  to  place.  The  Manchu  officials  were  never  natives  of  the 
province  in  which  they  held  office,  and  so  were  usually  ignorant 
of  the  customs  of  their  district,  and  unable  to  give  a  decision 
based  on  those  customs.  Then,  too,  the  officials  have  been  located 
only  in  the  larger  cities  and  the  ordinary  merchant  found  it  hard 
to  approach  them.  Even  when  a  case  was  brought  before  them, 
the  officials  paid  more  attention  to  the  amount  of  money  they 
could  secure  from  the  interested  parties  than  to  giving  a  just 
decision.  As  a  result,  the  merchants  learned  to  decide  and  settle 
for  themselves  any  business  questions  or  quarrels  that  might 
arise. 

In  order  that  there  might  be  some  regular  body  to  hear  these 
cases,  and  that  they  might  be  decided  according  to  the  recognized 
"rules  of  the  game,"  most  of  the  gilds  have  appointed  committees 
of  influential  members  who  are  well  versed  in  the  customs  and 
usages  of  the  locality.  These  committees  hear  and  give  their 
decision  on  all  cases  that  involve  the  members  of  their  gild; 
but,  when  the  members  of  more  than  one  gild  are  concerned,  the 
question  is  usually  laid  before  the  committee  of  some  neutral 
gild. 

No  set  procedure  is  followed  by  the  committees,  and  they  are 
informal  boards  of  arbitration  rather  than  formal  courts.  They 
cannot  compel  any  one  to  give  testimony,  and  have  no  way  of 
enforcing  their  decision  except  by  the  power  of  public  opinion. 
The  decision  of  the  gild  committee  is  never  binding,  unless  it  is 
voluntarily  accepted  by  the  interested  parties,  and  a  case  can 
always  be  appealed  to  the  official.  The  gilds  have  never  tried  to 
prevent  such  an  appeal.  Those  that  mention  disputes  in  their 
regulations  merely  insist  that  all  cases  be  heard  by  the  gild  com- 
mittee before  being  taken  to  the  official.  Appeals  from  the  deci- 
sion of  the  gild  are  rare,  however,  for  experience  has  shown  that 
more  often  than  not  the  decision  of  the  official  is  the  same  as 
that  of  the  gild  committee.  The  gild  often  gives  its  help  to  the 
party  in  whose  favor  it  has  decided,  in  case  there  is  an  appeal; 
and  its  decision  is  part  of  the  evidence  laid  before  the  official, 
and  always  carries  great  weight  as  it  represents  the  judgment 
of  the  business  community.  Because  of  this  and  the  expense  of 
the  appeal,  the  gild  decisions  are  ordinarily  accepted,  and  the 
officials  hear  but  few  business  cases. 

It  was  our  good  fortune  to  see  one  of  the  Gild  Courts  in 
session.  The  committee,  the  interested  parties  and  their  witnesses 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  195 

met  in  a  temple.  There  the  goods,  concerning  which  the  case  had 
arisen,  were  set  in  front  of  the  committee,  and  each  side  briefly 
gave  its  testimony.  The  witnesses  were  heard,  and  after  a  short 
conference  the  committee  gave  its  decision.  This  was  accepted 
as  final,  both  parties  arose,  bowed  to  the  committee  and  to  each 
other,  and  the  matter  was  closed.  A  half-hour  sufficed  to  settle 
satisfactorily  a  case  which,  if  taken  before  the  official,  would  have 
meant  at  least  a  day's  travel  for  all  of  the  parties  concerned, 
besides  possible  delays  and  inconveniences. 

STRIKES   AND   BOYCOTT 

The  Chinese  have  had  so  many  years  of  experience  that  they 
know  the  exact  strength  of  the  different  groups  in  the  community, 
and  what  would  be  the  outcome  of  any  struggle  between  them. 
As  a  result,  they  very  seldom  resort  to  action;  problems  or  dis- 
putes are  talked  out  and  demands  are  compromised.  When, 
however,  as  sometimes  happens,  questions  cannot  be  settled  in 
that  way,  the  strike  and  the  boycott  are  the  weapons  used,  and 
the  genius  of  the  Chinese  for  organization  and  the  power  of  the 
group  are  such  that  the  strike  is  100  percent  effective,  and  the 
boycott  nearly  so.  * 

Any  industrial  trouble  is  usually  short  and  quickly  settled. 
If  the  workers  go  on  strike  and  are  unable  to  carry  their  point 
in  a  few  days,  they  usually  fail;  for  they  have  no  funds  with 
which  to  carry  on  a  long  fight.  The  employers  are  not  able  to 
carry  on  a  long  lock-out;  for,  in  case  of  trouble,  the  officials 
usually  take  a  hand ;  and  that  is  sure  to  mean  that  the  merchants 
whose  property  can  be  reached  will  have  to  pay  heavy  assess- 
ments. Then,  too,  both  employers  and  employees  recognize  the 
fact  that  the  public  has  certain  interests  in  their  work  not  to  be 
disregarded.  At  present,  these  public  interests  are  looked  after 
by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  which  steps  in  and  acts  as  mediator 
in  case  the  employers  and  employees  cannot  reach  an  agreement 
in  a  short  time.  When  the  rice  beaters  of  Ningpo,  Chekiang, 
went  on  strike  for  higher  wages  in  1917,  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce forced  a  compromise.  The  President  of  the  Chamber 
said,  "A  strike  for  one,  two  or  three  days  was  all  right,  but 
by  the  end  of  the  third  day  the  stocks  of  rice  were  exhausted, 
and  the  people  were  unable  to  buy  hulled  rice.  The  case  simply 
had  to  be  settled." 

Any  trouble  between  employers  and  employees  almost  always 
arises  because  of  disputes  over  wages ;  but  these  are  rare,  as  the 
relationship  between  the  two  groups  is  so  close  that  each  is  willing 
to  recognize  just  claims  of  the  other.  Investigation  showed  only 
two  strikes  of  this  sort  in  Peking,  and  both  of  these  were  in  1885, 


196  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

when  the  Shoemakers  and  the  Jade  Workers  both  struck  for 
higher  wages,  and  both  failed  to  enforce  their  demands. 

The  Jade  Workers  asked  that  they  be  paid  6  cash  instead 
of  4  for  making  a  hole  in  the  mouth-piece  of  a  pipe.  Their 
demand  was  refused  by  the  employers  and  the  case  was  taken 
before  the  gild.  'Most  of  the  judges  who  heard  the  case  were 
store  owners,  and  they  decided  against  the  workers.  The  men 
went  on  strike,  but  were  unable  to  successfully  maintain  it,  as 
they  had  no  money  with  which  to  support  their  families.  Even 
though  there  has  been  no  strike  since  then,  the  wages  of  the  Jade 
Workers  have  risen  a  full  100  percent  in  the  last  15  years. 

When  the  Shoemakers  went  on  strike,  their  case  was  taken 
before  the  officials.  They  claimed  that  the  men  had  no  just  cause 
for  striking,  and  ordered  them  to  return  to  work.  In  giving  their 
decision,  the  officials  advised  the  employers  to  hire  new  men  if 
their  regular  workers  would  not  return  at  the  old  rate. 

The  strike  is  also  sometimes  used  as  a  means  of  protest 
against  the  action  of  the  officials.  It  may  be  that  only  one  gild 
is  involved  or  it  may  be  that  the  entire  business  community  feels 
that  the  official  is  encroaching  upon  its  rights.  Whichever  it  is, 
the  employers  and  employees  unite  to  make  the  protest  unani- 
mous. Tools  are  laid  aside,  the  shutters  are  put  up  on  the  shops 
and  no  business  is  done  until  the  official  recalls  the  unacceptable 
order  or  alters  his  actions. 

The  Peking  Pig  Butchers  went  on  strike  on  the  I5th  and  i6th 
of  March,  1919.  They  were  protesting  because  the  Government 
was  trying  to  force  them  to  pay  higher  taxes.  During  the  Ch'ing 
Dynasty,  the  butcher  shops  had  to  pay  a  tax  of  12  cents  for  every 
pig  slaughtered.  This  was  increased  to  40  cents  a  pig  after  the 
establishment  of  the  Republic,  but  could  be  paid  in  the  notes  of 
the  Peking  branch  of  the  Bank  of  China  or  the  Bank  of  Com- 
munication, which  in  1919  were  worth  about  65  cents  on  the 
dollar.  Early  in  March,  the  Government  demanded  that  the 
tax  be  paid  in  silver  instead  of  depreciated  bank  notes.  The 
butchers  refused  to  comply  with  this  demand,  and  all  of  the 
slaughter  houses  closed  down.  The  police  and  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  helped  to  settle  the  question,  but  the  strike  was  called 
off  only  after  the  Government  had  agreed  to  accept  the  bank 
notes. 

It  is  not  often  that  all  the  trades  unite  in  a  general  strike, 
as  public  opinion  can  be  united  by  only  a  very  large  issue.  The 
Shantung  question  and  the  award  of  the  German  rights  in  that 
province  to  Japan  by  the  Versailles  Peace  Conference  made  feel- 
ing run  high  all  over  the  country.  The  Chinese  felt  that  they 
had  been  betrayed  by  the  other  nations,  but  they  also  felt  that 
there  were  traitors  in  the  Chinese  Government  who  were  selling 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  197 

the  country.  The  students  and  the  merchants  united  in  a  demand 
that  these  traitors  be  dismissed  from  the  Government ;  and  early 
in  June  of  1919  the  business  of  many  cities  came  to  an  absolute 
stand-still.  In  fact,  the  strike  was  so  complete  that  even  the 
thieves  and  beggars  refused  to  work ;  and  in  Shanghai  there  was 
not  a  single  robbery  for  five  days.  Peking  escaped  the  general 
strike  only  because  the  Government  gave  in  and  met  the  demands 
of  the  merchants  and  students,  and  dismissed  the  three  men  who 
were  looked  on  as  the  chief  traitors. 

The  boycott,  like  the  strike,  is  used  in  both  industrial  and 
political  questions  as  one  of  the  chief  weapons  for  enforcing  the 
decisions  of  the  gild.  It  is  thorough-going,  powerful,  and,  though 
less  spectacular  than  the  strike,  fully  as  successful  in  its  results. 
As  an  industrial  weapon,  it  is  used  against  the  members  or 
customers  of  the  gild  who  have  not  lived  up  to  the  gild  rules,  or 
who  have  incurred  its  displeasure.  The  gild  simply  decrees  that 
none  of  its  members  are  allowed  to  have  any  dealings  with  the 
offender  under  penalty  of  being  themselves  boycotted.  The  gild 
also  insists  that  its  members  refrain  from  dealing  with  those  who 
continue  any  business  relations  with  the  boycotted  member,  even 
though  they  belong  to  another  line  of  business.  The  boycott 
means  commercial  death  for  the  man  against  whom  it  is  directed, 
so  it  has  to  be  used  but  rarely. 

In  political  questions,  the  boycott  is  one  of  the  best  weapons 
that  China  possesses.  She  is  unable  to  make  the  other  nations 
respect  her  point  of  view  by  force  of  arms,  but  she  is  able  to  do  it 
by  means  of  economic  pressure.  Both  America  and  Japan  have 
felt  the  effects  of  the  boycott  when  China  has  been  aroused  over 
an  international  question.  American  goods  were  boycotted  in 
1905,  when  the  discrimination  against  the  Chinese  in  California 
was  being  pushed,  and  Japanese  goods  in  1919,  when  China 
expressed  her  displeasure  over  the  aggression  in  Shantung.  A 
complete  and  long  continued  boycott  is  almost  impossible  to 
maintain,  as  so  many  merchants  find  their  entire  livelihood  in 
dealing  in  foreign  goods,  and  because  of  the  large  demand  for 
some  lines.  However,  the  Chinese  have  felt  so  strongly  over  the 
Shantung  question  that  the  boycott  has  been  long  continued, 
and  Japanjias  lost  between  June,  1919,  and  June,  1920,  well  over 
half  of  the  trade  she  would  otherwise  have  had. 


RELIEF 

The  Chinese  ordinarily  look  to  their  families  for  help  in  time  of 
trouble  and  misfortune,  and  expect  those  with  work  or  extra 
funds  to  take  care  of  those  without.  So  many  of  the  workers  have 
so  little  reserve  that  any  sickness,  lack  of  employment,  death  or 


198  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

other  misfortune,  means  suffering  for  them  and  their  immediate 
family  unless  they  are  given  some  help.  Many  times,  however, 
the  men  are  away  from  home  or  their  families  are  unable  to 
give  them  help,  and  then  it  is  but  natural  that  any  who  belong  to  a 
gild  should  look  to  it  for  help.  In  order  that  these  men  may  be 
taken  care  of,  many  of  the  gilds  have  appointed  special  commit- 
tees and  some  have  even  set  aside  special  relief  funds,  but  these 
are  to  be  used  only  in  case  a  man's  family  cannot  take  care  of 
him.  The  organization  is  ordinarily  much  more  complete  in  the 
poorer  gilds,  for  they  are  the  ones  whose  members  are  most  likely 
to  need  help.  Their  men  have  less  reserve  than  those  in  the  more 
well-to-do  gilds,  and  the  families  of  their  members  are  usually 
poorer. 

To  give  a  coffin  to  those  who  would  otherwise  lack  proper 
burial  has  long  been  a  worthy  charity  throughout  China;  so 
practically  all  of  the  gilds  see  to  it  that  their  poor  members  are 
given  one  when  they  die,  and  that  there  is  some  place  where  their 
bodies  may  be  buried. 

Many  of  the  gilds  also  contribute  toward  the  expense  of  send- 
ing the  bodies  of  their  members  back  to  their  homes ;  as  it  is  the 
wish  of  every  Chinese  to  be  buried  with  his  ancestors  near  his 
birth-place. 

Some  gilds  provide  that  members  who  are  seriously  sick  shall 
be  brought  to  the  gild  hall,1  while  in  minor  cases  they  pay  for 
any  needed  medicine.  Others  maintain  a  home  where  their  sick 
and  aged  can  be  cared  for,  and  still  others  help  their  members 
who  are  old,  or  so  ill  that  they  will  apparently  never  be  able  to 
continue  their  work,  to  return  to  their  homes  so  that  they  may 
spend  their  last  days  with  their  families  and  then  be  buried  in 
their  native  soil. 

The  Fertilizer  Gild  allows  15  cents  for  medicine  in  case  of 
need,  and  contributes  25  cents  per  100  li  (35  miles)  for  the 
traveling  expenses  of  those  who  are  being  sent  to  their  homes. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Barbers  Gild  will  give  no  help 
to  its  members,  if  they  are  suffering  from  venereal  disease.2 

The  Peking  Gild  of  the  Blind  has  established  a  school  for 
the  children  of  its  members,  and  also  stands  ready  to  give  to 
all  of  the  blind  of  the  city  a  training  that  will  fit  them  to  earn 
their  living  even  though  their  families  are  unable  to  meet  the 
necessary  expenses. 

The  money  for  the  charitable  expenses  of  the  gilds  usually 
comes  from  the  general  gild  treasuries,  as  only  a  few  collect  defi- 
nite contributions  for  that  work.  The  Peking  Barbers  all  make 
a  regular  weekly  contribution  to  the  charitable  funds  of  the  gild,3 

1  Regulations  Barbers  Gild,   Appendix. 

*  Rule  3,  Revised  Regulations  of  the  Barbers  Gild,  Appendix. 

'  Charitable  Rules  of  the  Barbers  Gild,  Appendix. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  199 

while  the  Fertilizer  Gild  sets  aside  for  relief  work  a  large  part  of 
the  amount  that  it  collects. 


GILD   SUMMARY   AND   CONCLUSIONS 

China's  Gild  System,  with  its  close  relationship  between 
employers  and  employees,  its  multitude  of  business  regulations, 
its  fixing  of  prices  and  wages,  its  monopolistic  control,  has  devel- 
oped and  grown  because  it  has  fitted  the  rot  ^i  ions  of  Chinese 
life.  In  a  country  where  the  clan  family  has  be* -n  the  social  unit, 
it  is  but  natural  that  the  same  system  should  develop  in  industry; 
and  the  control  of  the  individual  industry  has  been  democratic 
in  a  country  where  the  real  government  has  been  carried  on  by 
the  people  themselves,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  'here  have  been 
imperial  officials  holding  power  in  some  of  the  larger  centers. 

Although  there  is  a  democracy  within  the  gilds,  they  tend  to 
be  monopolistic  when  they  come  to  deal  with  other  groups.  They 
allow  no  one  to  engage  in  their  business  unless  he  has  served  his 
apprenticeship  and  belongs  to  the  gild,  prices  are  fixed  by  agree- 
ment rather  than  by  competition  and  at  a  point  where  tfiey  will 
give  a  fair  profit.  As  one  writer  puts  it,  "One  of  the  motives 
behind  the  Chinese  gild  has  been  the  desire  to  obtain  advantages 
for  themselves  and  to  retain  them,  and  at  the  same  time  exclude 
others  from  their  enjoyment."  x  This  has  perhaps  tended  to 
stabilize  conditions,  and  limit  the  development  of  Chinese  industry 
as  a  whole;  but  it  has  protected  the  individual  merchant  and 
artisan.  In  a  country  where  there  is  an  excess  population,  those 
who  have  an  advantage  must  fight  to  hold  it,  or  it  will  be  absorbed 
by  the  crowd,  and  all  will  be  reduced  to  a  common  level.  This 
in  China  is  but  little  above  that  of  mere  subsistence.  Any  change 
or  development  means  that  those  who  are  unable  to  adapt  them- 
selves will  be  displaced ;  and  for  many  in  China  this  means  actual 
starvation.  Consequently,  the  Chinese  have  been  willing  to  see 
the  various  groups  maintain  any  advantage  they  might  have,  but 
they  have  not  been  willing  to  let  a  caste  system  develop.  Mem- 
bership in  the  gilds  has  but  seldom  been  limited  to  those  whose 
relatives  already  belong  to  the  craft,  and  those  with  ability  have 
always  had  an  opportunity  to  advance. 

On  the  whole,  the  gild  form  of  industrial  control  has  been 
well  adapted  to  the  industrial  and  social  conditions  of  old  China; 
but  now  those  conditions  are  cVr  '  '  ,jr  rr  '  1  ;e  gilds  will  have  to 
change  with  them.  The  machine  process  and  modern  industry 
are  beginning  to  appear  in  the  country,  while  the  governmental 
agencies  are  attempting  to  exercise  more  and  more  control  over 
business.  Just  how  far  these  forces  will  influence  the  gilds,  and 

1  Morie:  Gilds  of  China,  p.  3. 


200  PEEING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

what  reactions  they  will  produce,  the  coming  years  alone  can 
tell;  but  apparently  China  is  facing  an  industrial  revolution, 
and  the  end  of  her  gild  form  of  organization. 

The  governmental  agencies,  both  local  and  national,  are  issuing 
more  and  more  rules  and  regulations  concerning  business  pro- 
cedure; and,  by  requiring  the  registration  of  all  stores  and  all 
officers  of  the  gilds  and  chambers  of  commerce,  are  apparently 
securing  a  much  closer  control  over  business.  The  Gild  of  the 
Wholesale  Soap  Dealers  has  been  greatly  weakened  since  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  Republic,  because  the  Government  has  refused 
to  protect  them  in  the  monopoly  they  enjoyed  under  the  Empire. 
By  paying  the  Imperial  Government  seven  or  eight  thousand  taels 
apiece  for  the  registry  of  their  names,  the  wholesale  dealers  were 
permitted  to  limit  the  number  of  stores  doing  a  wholesale  busi- 
ness in  Peking  to  fourteen.  The  Government  of  the  Republic  will 
not  so  limit  the  stores,  and  although  the  number  of  wholesale 
stores  has  not  increased,  much  of  the  wholesale  business  is  now 
being  done  by  the  retail  stores.  The  police  authorities  have  even 
gone  so  far  as  to  dissolve  the  Yarn  and  Piece  Goods  Gild  in 
Tientsin,  because  it  was  the  leader  in  the  boycott  of  Japanese 
goods  in  that  city. 

This  governmental  control  will  increase  as  the  business  laws 
developed  by  the  western  nations  become  more  adapted  to  China, 
the  Central  Government  becomes  stronger  and  more  democratic, 
and  business  men  are  appointed  or  elected  to  office.  Many  of  the 
present  functions  of  the  gilds  will  be  taken  over  by  the  Govern- 
ment, particularly  those  concerned  with  the  rules  and  regulations, 
or  rather  the  legal  side  of  business.  For  the  present,  however, 
it  is  constantly  a  question  as  to  how  much  the  apparent  increase 
in  the  control  of  business  on  the  part  of  the  officials  is  more 
evident  than  real.  The  gilds'  past  experience  with  the  Govern- 
ment has  been  such  that,  while  they  may  be  willing  to  turn  over 
to  it  certain  lines  of  work  which  they  have  looked  after  in  the 
past,  simply  because  there  was  no  other  trustworthy  agency 
available,  they  will  not  relinquish  any  real  powers  without  a 
struggle;  and,  so  far,  there  has  been  no  serious  clash.  There 
have  been  many  indications  that  the  Government  is  growing 
stronger  and  the  gilds  weaker,  but  few  if  any  of  the  gild  officials 
will  admit  that  this  is  the  case.  They  feel  that  the  activity  is  in 
lines  not  vital  to  the  gild.  Sooner  or  later,  however,  the  Govern- 
ment is  going  to  touch  one  of  these,  and  then  there  will  be  a  test 
of  strength.  If  it  should  come  now,  the  gilds  would  undoubtedly 
win ;  but  a  few  years  from  now  they  will  probably  lose. 

Modern  industry  and  the  machine  process  will  be  the  forces 
that  will  break  down  the  gild  organization.  When  companies 
using  large  capital  and  employing  large  numbers  of  men  are 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  201 

organized,  the  personal  relationship  between  master  and  man 
disappears,  the  interests  of  the  employer  and  employees  begin 
to  work  against  each  other  and,  sooner  or  later,  the  two  groups 
will  have  separate  organizations.  The  gild  organization  may 
be  continued  for  a  time;  but,  if  so,  the  men  with  large  amounts 
of  invested  capital  will  probably  attempt  to  use  the  influence  of 
the  gild  for  their  own  advantage.  For  a  time  they  may  even 
be  able  to  force  the  workers  to  live  up  to  rules  that  work  a  hard- 
ship on  them.  Gradually,  the  groups  will  separate,  first  as  they 
have  in  the  Incense  and  Cosmetic  Gild  where  the  employers  and 
employees  belong  to  the  same  gild  but  hold  separate  meetings  and 
have  very  little  to  do  with  each  other,  and  finally  as  they  have 
among  the  Shoemakers,  where  the  employees  have  their  own 
separate  organization. 

The  use  of  machinery,  in  which  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to 
acquire  in  a  short  time  the  skill  of  a  first  class  worker,  will  put 
an  end  to  the  three  year  apprenticeship,  and  allow  a  man  to 
qualify  for  gild  membership  in  a  much  shorter  time.  Skill  with 
machinery  will  also  make  it  possible  for  the  workers  to  find 
employment  in  several  trades  rather  than  in  just  one,  shifting 
from  one  line  of  work  to  another  as  there  is  a  greater  or  less 
demand  for  labor.  Under  such  conditions,  it  will  be  hard  for  the 
gilds  to  maintain  their  membership  and  enforce  their  rules. 

Already,  the  Cotton  Weaving  Gild  in  South  Chihli,  with  some 
six  hundred  thousand  members,  is  beginning  this  fight  for  life. 
It  is  meeting  the  competition  of  the  large  factories  and  the  power 
loom  by  refusing  to  allow  its  members  to  work  in  the  factories ; 
but  the  question  is  how  long  it  will  be  able  to  continue  this  pro- 
hibition and  still  enable  them  to  earn  a  living  by  hand  work. 
The  indications  are  that  it  will  be  one  of  the  first  of  the  big 
Chinese  gilds  to  break  up.  Already,  large  spinning  and  weaving 
mills  are  in  operation  in  the  port  cities,  large  quantities  of  cloth 
are  being  imported  from  Japan,  and  the  Chinese  market  is  show- 
ing its  preference  for  the  finer  grade  machine-made  cloth.  Even 
so,  the  hand  workers  can  make  a  living  for  the  time  being,  since 
China's  millions  are  clothed  in  cotton,  and  the  demand  is  so  large 
that  it  cannot  be  met  by  machine-made  goods  alone.  As  the 
factories  grow,  however,  the  hand  workers  and  their  gild  organ- 
ization will  survive  only  if  they  adapt  themselves  to  the  machine 
process. 

Those  who  are  in  close  touch  with  the  industrial  situation 
believe  that  the  transition  from  hand  work  in  the  small  shops 
to  machine  work  in  the  large  factories  can  be  made  most  easily 
by  means  of  small  factory  units  that  can  be  operated  with  small 
capital.  The  Chinese  have  kad  practically  no  experience  in 
handling  large  corporations  and  the  large  amounts  of  capital 


202  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

involved;  and  what  experience  they  have  had  has  been,  for  the 
most  part,  unfortunate.  Corporate  funds  seem  to  have  a  habit 
of  disappearing  in  the  same  way  that  public  funds  often  vanish. 
Chinese  life  has  taught  honesty  in  individual,  partnership  and 
gild  business;  but  it  has  not  developed  a  sense  of  responsibility 
toward  the  business  of  a  large  group.  Because  of  this,  the  small 
factory  unit  is  particularly  adapted  to  the  present  situation  in 
China.  It  will  make  it  possible  for  the  business  man  of  moderate 
means  to  maintain  his  position  in  the  business  world  while  he  is 
gaining  experience  in  the  management  of  corporations  and  adjust- 
ing himself  to  the  new  business  conditions.  For  the  workers,  it 
should  prevent  many  of  the  evils  that  come  from  the  sudden 
development  of  large  factories. 

Foreign  business  methods  and  the  importation  of  foreign 
goods  are  also  helping  to  break  down  the  close  organization  of 
the  gilds.  The  merchants  dealing  in  foreign  goods  are  forming 
gilds,  it  is  true;  but  their  work  is  merely  that  of  selling,  and  they 
find  it  necessary  to  admit  to  gild  membership  "Wai  Hang," 
i.  e.,  men  who  have  not  served  the  gild  apprenticeship.  The  only 
qualification  for  membership  such  gilds  can  insist  on  is  that  a 
man  shall  have  had  some  business  and  selling  experience.  Con- 
sequently, men  are  coming  to  them  from  other  lines,  and  it  is 
beginning  to  be  possible  for  a  man  to  shift  from  one  organization 
to  another.  As  the  change  from  one  line  of  business  to  another 
becomes  easier,  the  gilds  are  going  to  find  it  harder  to  enforce 
their  rules  or  even  to  insist  that  all  the  men  engaged  in  that  line 
of  business  belong  to  the  gild. 

The  gilds  will  not  go  without  a  struggle,  particularly  if  the 
rapid  change  of  industry  throws  out  of  employment  a  large 
number  of  people  who  have  learned  the  old  methods  but  are 
unable  to  learn  the  new.  Open  industrial  warfare  may  result  in 
many  cases,  and  will  certainly  do  so  unless  those  who  are  inter- 
ested in  the  industrial  development  of  China  exert  themselves  to 
make  it  possible  for  both  employers  and  employees  to  learn 
gradually  the  new  methods,  and  so  help  China  to  escape  the  disas- 
trous consequences  of  an  industrial  revolution. 

LU    PAN   INDUSTRIAL   UNION 

Although  the  gilds  have  been  able  to  build  a  complete  and 
efficient  organization  for  a  single  trade  or  line  of  business,  they 
have  not  learned  to  unite;  nor  have  conditions  been  such  that 
they  have  been  forced  to  combine.  Each  gild  has  dealt  with  its 
own  problems,  but  the  different  gilds  have  not,  until  recently, 
come  together  to  deal  with  questions  involving  the  interests  of 
a  part  or  all  of  the  business  community  except  as  they  have  had 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  303 

to  meet  the  aggression  of  some  official  or  to  face  some  unusual 
occurrence. 

An  experiment  in  combination  has  been  started  in  Peking  by 
the  establishment,  in  1913,  of  the  Lu  Pan  Industrial  Union.1 
This  organization  aims  to  include  in  its  membership  all  of  those 
who  worship  Lu  Pan  as  the  founder  of  their  craft,  especially  the 
carpenters,  masons  and  painters.  The  Union  aims  to  be  a  super- 
gild.  Its  rules  state  that  it  will  fix  wages  for  the  Lu  Pan  trades, 
protect  the  workers  from  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  employers 
to  reduce  wages,  protect  the  employers  from  any  unjust  demands 
on  the  part  of  the  workers,  establish  schools  for  the  children  of 
the  Lu  Pan  workers,  organize  workshops  where  those  who  are 
out  of  work  may  obtain  employment,  and  carry  on  the  relief 
work  ordinarily  done  by  the  gilds,  such  as  feeding  the  poor,  caring 
for  the  sick,  providing  homes  for  the  old  and  needy,  and  furnish- 
ing coffins  and  graves  for  members  whose  families  are  unable 
to  bury  them  properly.  In  fact,  it  will  do  everything  that  an 
ordinary  gild  does,  and  in  addition  will  help  its  members  to 
secure  contracts  for  the  construction  of  buildings.  This  is  the 
main  object  of  the  Union.  Those  who  are  promoting  it  feel  very 
keenly  the  fact  that  foreigners  have  secured  the  contracts  for 
so  many  of  the  big  government  buildings.  By  forming  a  big 
Union  and  pooling  the  knowledge  and  skill  of  the  members,  they 
hope  to  be  able  to  meet  the  foreign  competition  and  secure  the 
government  contracts. 

If  the  Union  secures  a  contract,  the  work  is  distributed  by 
ballot  to  the  various  members.  If  any  of  them  need  capital  to 
finance  their  part  of  the  contract,  the  Union  will  lend  them  any 
surplus  funds  it  may  have  on  hand,  and  charge  only  5  percent 
for  the  use  of  the  money.  If  a  contractor  loses  money  on  work 
that  has  been  figured  and  approved  by  the  Union,  it  will  reimburse 
him,  provided  he  can  show  that  the  loss  was  not  caused  by  his 
wastefulness.  If  any  individual  member  has  difficulty  in  collect- 
ing money  due  on  a  completed  contract,  the  Union  will  be  respon- 
sible for  the  collection  of  the  debt. 

While  the  Union  figures  only  on  government  contracts,  it 
is  ready  to  give  assistance  to  a  contractor  who  wants  to  bid  on 
any  private  work,  by  helping  him  to  make  estimates  and  plans. 
For  such  services,  it  charges  a  given  percent  of  the  value  of  the 
contract,  but  it  collects  its  fee  only  in  case  the  contract  is  secured. 

The  Union  puts  only  one  limitation  on  its  members;  but  it 
is  one  to  which  the  Chinese  are  accustomed.  No  matter  how 
many  men  want  to  figure  on  a  given  piece  of  work,  all  must  enter 
the  same  bid. 

1  See  Appendix  for  By-Laws  of  Lu  Pan  Industrial  Union  and  Lecture  Concerning 
Aims  of  the  Union. 


204  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

Those  who  are  successful  in  securing  any  contract  must  pay 
to  the  gild  2/1  o  of  i  percent  of  its  value.  This  is  the  only 
income  of  the  gild,  as  it  does  not  collect  any  membership  fees. 
The  workers  are  included  in  the  membership,  of  the  Union ;  but, 
as  they  receive  no  direct  benefit  from  it — the  Chinese  artisans 
doing  the  work  whether  a  contractor  is  foreign  or  Chinese — they 
are  not  required  to  pay  anything  to  the  Union. 

The  preliminary  expenses  of  the  Union  are  advanced  by  the 
promoters,  and  are  considered  as  a  loan  to  be  repaid  when  the 
Union  has  accumulated  sufficient  funds. 

The  plans  of  the  Union  are  very  ambitious,  but  so  far  not 
a  great  deal  of  progress  has  been  made  with  them.  Such  a 
combination  for  such  a  purpose  is  a  new  idea,  and  the  Chinese 
are  slow  to  accept  it,  especially  as  it  attempts  to  unite  groups 
that  have  in  the  past  been  entirely  separate.  The  success  of  the 
Union  will  depend  entirely  upon  its  ability  to  meet  the  competition 
of  the  foreign  contractors  and  secure  for  its  members  work  that 
they  are  unable  to  secure  for  themselves. 

CHAMBER   OF    COMMERCE 

It  was  not  until  1900,  the  year  of  the  Boxer  Uprising,  that 
any  successful  attempt  was  made  by  the  business  men  to  create 
an  organization  that  would  bring  together  the  merchants  of  the 
various  gilds  and  make  it  possible  for  them  to  express  their  united 
opinion  on  questions  affecting  the  entire  business  community. 
In  that  year  Yuan  Shih  K'ai,  who  was  later  the  first  President 
of  China,  but  then  the  Governor  of  Shantung  Province,  suggested 
the  organization  of  a  chamber  of  commerce  for  the  entire  prov- 
ince. The  idea  spread  gradually  until  by  the  end  of  the  Ch'ing 
Dynasty  (1912)  chambers  of  commerce,  organized  along  city 
rather  than  provincial  lines,  had  been  established  in  most  of  the 
large  cities  of  the  country.  In  1915  there  were  869  chambers 
representing  230,431  shops.1 

Under  the  Manchus  there  was  no  law  governing  the  chambers 
of  commerce,  their  organization,  powers  or  responsibilities,  and 
each  one  adopted  rules  and  regulations  that  seemed  fitted  to  its 
local  conditions.  After  the  Revolution  of  1911,  however,  the 
Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce  was  given  supervision 
over  all  commercial  bodies,  and  on  September  12,  1914,  promul- 
gated a  series  of  regulations  for  the  chambers  of  commerce. 
These  together  with  a  set  of  Supplemental  Regulations  promul- 
gated on  February  i,  1916,  constitute  the  laws  now  governing 
all  of  the  chambers  of  commerce  of  the  country.2 

1  China  Year  Book,   1919. 

2  See  Appendix  for  complete  National  Regulations  for  Chambers  of  Commerce. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  305 

A  chamber  of  commerce,  according  to  these  regulations,  is  a 
group  of  business  men  who  are  either  officers  of  corporations, 
representatives  of  gilds,  or  men  who  are  independently  inter- 
ested in  industrial  or  commercial  enterprises,  who  have  not  been 
deprived  of  their  rights  of  citizenship,  who  have  not  outstanding 
any  uncanceled  decree  of  bankruptcy,  and  who  are  not  afflicted 
with  nervous  diseases. 

The  members  of  a  chamber  of  commerce  elect  by  signed  ballot 
a  board  of  directors  that  numbers  from  15  to  40,  depending  upon 
the  size  and  character  of  the  chamber.  The  directors  elect  by 
ballot  the  president  and  vice-president.  The  officers  and  directors 
are  all  elected  for  a  two-year  term,  and  are  eligible  for  re-election 
but  are  not  allowed  to  serve  for  more  than  two  consecutive  terms. 
All  officers  and  directors  serve  in  an  honorary  capacity,  and 
receive  no  remuneration  from  the  chamber. 

The  board  of  directors  is  allowed  to  co-opt  as  members  of 
the  board  any  members  of  the  chamber  who  have  special  ability 
or  exceptional  industrial  training  and  experience,  but  the  number 
of  such  directors  must  not  be  more  than  one-fifth  of  those  who 
are  elected. 

The  duties  of  the  chambers  of  commerce  as  set  forth  in  the 
regulations  of  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce 
are: 

1.  To  consult  about  industrial  and  commercial  reforms. 

2.  To  suggest  to  the  officials  amendments  to  the  laws  govern- 

ing business. 

3.  To  furnish  information  to  the  officials  in  response  to  their 

inquiries  concerning  commercial  and  industrial  ques- 
tions. 

4.  To  investigate  industrial  and  commercial  conditions. 

5.  To  secure  information  for  its  members  concerning  indus- 

trial or  commercial  matters,  and  to  determine  where 
merchandise  has  been  produced  and  its  value. 

6.  To  collect  exhibits  for  expositions. 

7.  To  settle  industrial  and  commercial  disputes  at  the  request 

of  the  interested  parties. 

8.  To  be  responsible  for  maintaining  order  when  there  is  a 

money  panic. 

9.  To  erect  buildings  for  exhibitions,  to  establish  industrial 

and  commercial  schools  and  other  public  organizations 
that  have  to  do  with  industrial  and  commercial  inter- 
ests, when  properly  approved  by  the  Ministry  of  Agri- 
culture and  Commerce. 

The  Peking  Chamber  of  Commerce  sets  forth  its  purposes  as 
follows : 


206  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

1.  To  bring  about  friendly  relations  between  merchants  and 

workmen. 

2.  To  conduct  researches  on  industrial  and  commercial  ques- 

tions. 

3.  To  develop  industrial  and  commercial  enterprises. 

4.  To  strengthen  all  commercial  enterprises. 

5.  To  settle  disputes  between  workmen  and  merchants. 

6.  To  look  after  the  condition  of  the  markets. 

These  purposes  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  are  carried  put 
by  the  president  and  board  of  directors  except  for  the  settling 
of  disputes  between  merchants  and  between  merchants  and  work- 
men. For  this  the  chamber  of  commerce  organizes  a  court  simi- 
lar to  those  established  by  the  various  gilds.  The  gilds  still  main- 
tain their  courts  to  decide  cases  that  arise  between  their  own 
members ;  but  when  the  members  of  different  gilds  .are  involved, 
the  case  is  now  ordinarily  taken  before  the  chamber  of  com- 
merce court  rather  than  before  some  neutral  gild,  and  when  a 
question  concerns  two  gilds  it  is  but  natural  that  the  chamber  of 
commerce,  representing  as  it  does  the  entire  business  community, 
should  act  as  the  arbitrator. 

Under  the  Empire  the  chamber  of  commerce  courts  were 
entirely  independent  of  the  officials,  and  there  was  no  law  that 
controlled  them  in  any  way.  Each  one  was  organized  and  oper- 
ated as  best  suited  the  local  conditions.  After  the  establishment 
of  the  Republic,  however,  the  Ministries  of  Justice  and  Agri- 
culture and  Commerce,  together,  promulgated  general  *  and 
detailed  rules 2  for  the  control  of  the  chamber  of  commerce 
courts.  Although  these  regulations  outline  the  organization  of 
the  courts,  specify  what  cases  they  are  allowed  to  accept,  give 
in  detail  the  procedure  to  be  followed,  and  provide  that  a  periodic 
report  must  be  made  to  the  Ministry  of  Justice  outlining  the  cases 
heard  by  the  courts,  they  leave  the  courts  free  to  decide  all  cases 
according  to  the  prevailing  local  customs,  provided  they  do  not 
contravene  any  national  law.  This  happens  but  seldom  as  the 
national  law,  -of  necessity,  establishes  only  general  principles. 
The  customs  and  habits  of  the  various  parts  of  the  country  are 
so  different  that  any  law  to  be  acceptable  to  all  must  deal  only 
with  broad  fundamentals. 

According  to  the  regulations  of  the  Ministries  of  Justice  and 
Agriculture  and  Commerce,  a  chamber  of  commerce  court  con- 
sists of  a  chairman,  nine  to  twenty  members  of  conference  who 
hear  the  cases,  two  to  six  investigators,  and  the  necessary  clerks 
and  writers.  All  of  these,  except  the  writers  and  clerks,  are 
elected  for  a  two  year  term  by  ballot  by  the  members  of  the 

1  National  Regulations  for  Chamber  of  Commerce  Courts.     Appendix. 
*  Detailed  Rules  for  Chamber  of  Commerce  Courts.     Appendix. 


CLOISONNE  MAKING. 


NOT  EVEN  A  POTTER  S   WHEEL  TO    MAKE   STOVES. 

Most  of  Peking's  industries  are  still   in  the  handicraft  stage.     Clay  stoves  that 
burn  coal  balls  made  of  earth  and  coal  dust  are  shaped  entirely  by  hand. 


GOVERNMENT  UNIFORM   FACTORY. 

One   of  the   few  modern   factories  in   Peking. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  207 

chamber  of  commerce,  and  serve  in  practically  an  honorary 
capacity,  their  salaries  being  limited  to  $30  a  month.  At  the 
same  time  that  the  members  of  the  court  are  elected,  alternates 
are  chosen  who  shall  take  the  place  of  any  of  the  members  who 
resign  during  their  term  of  office.  The  number  of  alternates 
elected  is  one-third  that  of  the  investigators  and  members  of 
conference.1 

The  chamber  of  commerce  courts  hear  all  cases  having  to 
do  with  commerce  and  industry,  but  they  are  not  allowed  to 
hear  cases  unimportant  to  commerce,  that  have  to  do  with  civil 
or  criminal  questions,  or  that  are  brought  before  them  by  only  one 
of  the  interested  parties.2  This  last  restriction  was  included  in 
the  regulations  because  many  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  courts 
were  accustomed  to  give  a  decision  on  cases  that  only  one  of 
the  interested  parties  desired  to  have  heard.  Such  decisions,  of 
course,  were  never  binding;  but  they  did  have  a  very  consider- 
able moral  effect,  and  tended  to  influence  any  court  that  might 
subsequently  hear  the  case. 

Cases  may  be  brought  before  a  chamber  of  commerce  court  in 
two  ways.  The  interested  parties  may  request  it  to  hear  their 
case  if  they  have  not  taken  this  before  a  court  of  justice,  or  a 
court  of  justice  may  refer  a  case  to  it  for  decision.3  A  great 
many  of  the  business  cases  brought  before  the  courts  of  justice 
are  so  referred;  for  experience  has  shown  that  the  chamber 
of  commerce  courts  are  able  to  decide  cases  satisfactorily,  and 
that  they  have  a  much  better  knowledge  of  business  customs  than 
has  the  judge  or  official. 

The  ordinary  procedure  followed  in  bringing  a  case  before 
a  chamber  of  commerce  court  is  to  file  with  it  a  written  state- 
ment giving  an  outline  of  the  point  at  issue,  the  names,  ages, 
birth-places,  addresses  and  occupations  of  the  interested  parties, 
a  list  of  witnesses  and  of  all  documents  and  other  evidence  sub- 
mitted in  the  case.  If  a  case  is  very  urgent  or  of  minor  impor- 
tance it  may  be  brought  before  the  court  by  word  of  mouth, 
but  the  same  information  must  be  given.  If,  from  the  statement 
of  the  case,  the  chairman  of  the  court  decides  that  is  is  one 
that  the  court  is  permitted  to  hear,  he  formally  accepts  it  and 
sets  a  date  for  its  hearing.  Cases  brought  before  the  court  in 
writing  are  arranged  on  the  calendar  in  the  order  in  which  they 
are  received,  though  if  necessary  a  case  may  be  advanced  or 
at  the  request  of  the  interested  parties  may  be  postponed.  It 
cannot  be  postponed  more  than  three  times,  however,  and  each 
postponement  must  not  be  for  more  than  two  weeks.  Cases 
brought  before  the  court  by  word  of  mouth  must  be  decided 

1  General  Regulations  for  Chamber  of  Commerce  Courts,  Arts.  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,   12, 
s  Detailed  Regulations,  Art.    16. 
1  General  Regulations,  Art.  14. 


208  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

within  three  days  of  their  acceptance,  unless  some  difficulty  arises 
in  connection  with  the  securing  of  the  necessary  evidence.1 

The  chairman  of  the  court,  some  time  before  the  date  set 
for  a  case,  chooses  by  lot  three  or  five  members  of  conference 
who  shall  hear  the  case.  If  the  interested  parties  have  any  valid 
objection  to  having  their  case  heard  by  the  chosen  members  of 
conference,  the  chairman  of  the  court  will  appoint  other  members. 

When  a  case  is  to  be  heard,  all  of  the  interested  parties  must 
be  present  with  their  witnesses  and  any  other  evidence  that  they 
wish  to  offer.  The  witnesses  are  heard  and  the  evidence  is  laid 
before  the  court  in  much  the  same  manner  as  in  a  court  of 
justice,  except  that  the  chamber  of  commerce  courts  are  not 
allowed  to  require  that  testimony  be  given  under  oath  and  wit- 
nesses cannot  be  compelled  to  testify.2  As  a  result  these  courts 
act  more  informally  than  the  regular  courts,  are  able  to  expedite 
cases,  and  even  secure  better  results. 

If  there  is  any  point  that  is  not  made  clear  by  the  evidence 
offered,  the  court  will  appoint  one  or  more  of  its  investigators  to 
examine  the  matter  and  report  his  findings;  while  if  there  are 
witnesses  who  have  information  that  may  have  a  bearing  upon 
the  case  in  hand,  the  court  can  request  them  to  testify  even 
though  they  may  not  have  been  called  by  the  interested  par- 
ties.3 

All  cases  are  decided  according  to  the  majority  vote  of  the 
members  of  conference  hearing  them.  The  decisions  are  based 
upon  the  local  business  customs,  provided  they  do  not  conflict 
with  the  national  law.4 

The  decision  of  the  court  is  never  binding  unless  it  is  accepted 
by  the  interested  parties,  if  they  have  been  the  ones  to  bring  the 
case  before  the  court,  or  until  it  has  been  reviewed  by  the  court 
of  justice,  if  the  case  has  been  referred  to  the  chamber  of  com- 
merce court.  If  the  interested  parties  refuse  to  accept  the  deci- 
sion, they  can  always  appeal  to  the  court  of  justice,  if  they  have 
not  appeared  before  it ;  while,  if  the  decision  of  the  chamber 
of  commerce  court  has  been  approved  by  the  court  of  justice,  the 
case  can  be  appealed  to  a  higher  court.5 

If  the  decision  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  court  is  accepted 
by  the  interested  parties  they  are  required  to  furnish  responsible 
and  trustworthy  guarantors  who  shall  see  that  the  decision  of 
the  court  is  carried  out,  that  any  payments  required  by  the  deci- 
sion are  made,  and  that  the  expenses  of  the  trial  are  paid.  If 
such  guarantors  cannot  be  furnished,  the  chamber  of  commerce 

1  Detailed  Regulations,  Arts.  32-47.     Appendix. 

1  General  Regulations,  Art.  22.      Detailed  Regulations,  Art.   46. 

3  General   Regulations,  Art.   23.     Detailed  Regulations,  Arts.   25   and  45. 

*  Detailed   Regulations,   Art.    5. 

8  General  Regulations,  Arts.   17  and  34.     Detailed  Regulations,  Art.  48. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  209 

court  may  petition  the  local  court  of  justice  to  enforce  the 
decision.1 

The  chambers  of  commerce  are  required,  by  the  regulations, 
to  pay  all  the  expenses  incident  to  the  organization  and  operation 
of  the  chamber  of  commerce  courts,  but  they  are  allowed  to 
collect  fees  from  those  who  bring  cases  before  the  court.  Such 
fees  are  to  be  paid  by  the  party  at  fault,  but  cannot  be  over 
2,  percent  of  the  value  of  the  goods  involved.  If,  according  to 
the  decision  of  the  court,  both  parties  are  at  fault,  they  divide 
the  expense.  If  a  party  to  a  case  is  a  member  of  the  chamber 
of  commerce,  he  cannot  be  charged  more  than  I  percent  of  the 
value  of  the  goods  involved ;  for  as  a  member  of  the  chamber 
he  is  already  contributing  to  the  expense  of  the  court.2 

The  chamber  of  commerce  courts  make  it  possible  for  the 
business  men  to  secure  quick  and  inexpensive  justice  based  on 
the  customs  of  the  district;  for  the  cases  are  heard  by  business 
men  who  are  interested  in  commercial  justice  rather  than  by 
officials  and  judges  who  are  apt  to  be  interested  in  fine  legal 
points.  They  keep  a  large  number  of  cases  out  of  the  local 
courts,  and  save  the  judges  or  officials  the  embarrassment  of 
having  to  give  a  decision  based  on  customs  with  which  they  are 
probably  unacquainted.  In  fact,  they  function  so  well  that  the 
officials  are  usually  more  than  willing  to  refer  all  business  cases 
to  them.  In  Peking  this  is  especially  true  of  bankruptcy  cases. 
According  to  law  such  cases  have  to  go  before  a  court  of  justice, 
but  they  are  then  referred  to  the  chamber  of  commerce  court; 
for  experience,  has  shown  that  the  most  satisfactory  settlement 
for  both  merchant  and  creditor  is  reached  when  the  case  is 
handled  by  that  court.  The  decision  is  reviewed  by  the  court 
of  justice  but  is  seldom  if  ever  altered. 

The  chamber  of  commerce  courts  not  only  give  justice  to 
the  business  men,  but  they  also  see  to  it  that  the  rights  of  the 
public  are  protected  in  case  of  industrial  disputes.  They  will 
step  in  and  force  a  settlement  of  a  strike  or  lock-out,  if  it  is 
being  carried  on  so  that  the  public  suffers,  even  though  by  so 
doing  they  may  prevent  the  employers  or  the  employees  from 
making  the  most  of  any  advantage  already  gained.  It  is  one 
more  evidence  of  the  Chinese  desire  to  have  life  go  on  without 
any  violent  displacement  and  all  changes  come  gradually.  Indus- 
trial relationships  are  so  carefully  adjusted,  and  so  many  people 
live  so  close  to  the  edge  of  starvation,  that  any  change  in  the 
existing  order  is  sure  to  bring  suffering  to  some.  The  Chinese 
may  seem  callous  to  the  want  and  suffering  that  exists  under 
ordinary  conditions ;  but  they  are  not  willing  to  see  added  suffer- 

1  Detailed  Regulations,  Art.  50. 

2  General    Regulations,    Arts.    4  and   20.      Detailed   Regulations,   Arts.    4   and   30. 
Appendix. 


210  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

ing  because  a  single  group  desires  to  enforce  its  demands.  They 
will  rather  step  in  to  protect  the  rights  of  the  public,  and  force 
the  contesting  groups  to  compromise  and  get  back  to  work,  so 
that  the  life  of  the  community  may  go  on;  and  the  chamber  of 
commerce  is  the  natural  organization  to  do  this,  representing 
as  it  does  the  entire  business  community. 

In  order  that  it  may  keep  track  of  the  work  that  is  being  done 
by  the  chamber  of  commerce  courts,  the  Ministry  of  Justice 
requires  them  to  make  a  quarterly  report.  This  must  give  an 
outline  of  all  the  cases  heard,  the  names,  ages,  birth-places, 
addresses  and  businesses  of  the  interested  parties,  the  method 
by  which  the  case  was  brought  before  the  court,  the  decision, 
the  cause  of  dispute,  the  basis  of  the  decision  and  its  effect,  and 
state  whether  or  not  force  had  to  be  used  to  carry  out  the  decision, 
and  finally  give  the  names  of  the  members  of  conference  who 
heard  the  case.  The  report  is  first  filed  with  the  high  court  of  the 
province,  and  then  is  forwarded  by  it  to  the  Ministry  of  Justice  in 
Peking,  where  it  is  recorded  and  filed.1 

Apparently  the  Government  is  exercising  a  close  supervision 
over  the  courts  of  the  chambers  of  commerce,  but  just  how 
effective  it  is  we  cannot  state.  The  Ministries  of  Justice  and 
Agriculture  and  Commerce  require  all  the  courts  to  be  organized 
in  the  same  way  and  to  report  to  them  the  cases  they  have  heard ; 
but  the  form  of  organization  adopted  by  the  ministries  is  prac- 
tically the  same  as  that  developed  by  the  chambers  of  commerce 
prior  to  1912,  and  simply  standardizes  conditions  for  the  entire 
country.  Since  the  courts  are  allowed  to  decide  cases  according 
to  local  custom,  they  have  practically  entire  control  of  the  con- 
ditions under  which  business  shall  be  conducted;  and  the  mere 
making  of  a  quarterly  report  does  not  greatly  strengthen  the 
power  of  the  Government  over  them.  Even  so,  it  is  the  first 
step  that  the  Government  can  take;  and  it  may,  and  probably 
will,  lead  to  stronger  and  stronger  governmental  control.  This 
will  come  first  through  the  creation  of  a  larger  and  larger  body 
of  national  law,  then  the  provinces  will  extend  the  scope  of  their 
laws,  and  finally  the  courts  themselves  will  probably  be  taken  over 
by  the  Government.  Even  then,  however,  they  will  undoubtedly 
maintain  their  distinctive  character,  and  still  be  a  group  of 
business  men  deciding  business  cases  according  to  the  accepted 
"rules  of  the  game." 

One  of  the  present  important  functions  of  the  chambers  of 
commerce  is  that  of  go-between  for  the  merchants  and  the  Govern- 
ment. Whenever  the  officials  are  planning  to  adopt  any  new 
laws  or  taxes,  they  ordinarily  discuss  them  with  the  chamber  of 
commerce,  as  that  body  is  able  to  judge  accurately  of  the  feelings 

1  Detailed  Regulations,  Art.  57.    Appendix. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE 

of  the  business  community,  and  can  advise  the  Government  as 
to  the  probable  effect  of  the  proposed  measures.  Usually  the 
officials  do  not  push  matters,  if  they  find  that  the  proposed  laws 
will  not  be  acceptable  to  the  merchants.  Although  the  chamber 
of  commerce  acts  as  a  check  on  the  officials,  it  also  makes  their 
relations  with  the  merchants  much  easier.  By  dealing  with  the 
chamber  of  commerce  the  officials  can  affect  the  entire  business 
community,  and  will  be  saved  the  necessity  of  dealing  with  each 
individual  gild.  Furthermore,  the  chamber  of  commerce  will 
help  enforce  regulations  of  which  it  approves,  and  may  even  help 
in  the  collection  of  taxes.  Even  when  a  question  involves  a 
single  gild,  the  officials  are  coming  to  deal  with  the  chamber 
of  commerce  rather  than  with  the  gild ;  for  although  the  position 
of  the  chamber  will  probably  be  determined  by  that  of  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  gild,  the  officials  find  it  easier  to  discuss  the 
matter  with  the  chamber  of  commerce. 

In  times  of  trouble  or  disturbance  the  chamber  of  commerce 
finds  itself  in  a  most  unpleasant  position.  The  military  officials 
and  the  bandit  chiefs  look  upon  it  as  a  source  of  revenue  and, 
with  the  threat  of  looting,  practically  force  the  contribution  of 
large  sums  of  money.  The  chamber  then  has  to  assess  its  mem- 
bers, in  order  that  it  may  secure  the  required  amount.  In  the 
summer  of  1920,  when  the  Anfu  and  Chihli  factions  were  fighting 
around  Peking,  the  military  officials  attempted  to  secure  a  con- 
tribution of  $3,000,000  from  the  Peking  Chamber  of  Commerce. 
It  responded  with  $100,000,  but  refused  to  increase  the  amount. 
In  districts  where  brigandage  has  been  rife,  the  chamber  of  com- 
merce has  sometimes  been  called  on  to  contribute  some  three  and 
four  different  times  in  a  very  few  months.  Perhaps  a  small  band 
of  brigands  captures  the  town.  It  levies  an  assessment  upon  the 
business  men.  Then  a  larger  band  of  bandits  drives  out  the 
smaller  band,  and  must  be  paid  for  "saving  the  city."  When  the 
soldiers  come  to  dispossess  the  larger  band,  they,  too,  must  receive 
their  reward. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  chamber  of  commerce  is  the  organiza- 
tion that  naturally  leads  and  makes  unanimous  any  protest  the 
merchants  may  make  against  the  actions  of  the  officials.  The 
general  strike  in  1919,  in  Shanghai,  Nanking  and  Tientsin,  was 
quickly  organized  and  successful  because  the  policy  of  the  gilds 
of  the  city  could  be  decided  by  the  chamber  of  commerce.  The 
boycott  of  1919-20  was  long  continued  because  the  chamber  of 
commerce  was  able  to  push  its  enforcement  after  it  had  once 
been  decreed.  The?  members  of  some  of  the  gilds  found  it  hard 
to  get  along  without  Japanese  goods,  and  were  inclined  to  relax 
the  boycott.  The  chamber  of  commerce,  representing  public 
opinion,  was  able  to  hold  them  to  it,  and  enable  the  Chinese  to 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

disprove  the  statement  that  they  were  "greatly  excited  over  some 
matter  for  five  minutes  and  then  forgot  all  about  it." 

The  Peking  Chamber  of  Commerce  is  organized  in  accordance 
with  the  national  regulations  for  chambers  of  commerce.  Its 
important  and  influential  members  are  the  representatives  of 
58  groups  that  include  the  telegraph  and  telephone  companies, 
the  manufacturing  companies,  the  Salt  Gabelle  and  the  merchant 
gilds  of  Peking,  but  not  any  of  the  artisan  or  craft  gilds  of 
the  city.  Two  gilds,  the  Ts'ai  Yu  and  Fang  Shan  Hsien  Gilds, 
represent  the  business  of  two  neighboring  cities,  and  are  in- 
cluded in  the  Peking  Chamber  by  special  arrangement. 

The  58  groups  include  in  their  membership  4,630  stores,  or 
approximately  %  of  the  number  in  the  city.  They  are  repre- 
sented in  the  chamber  by  some  275  members,  each  group  ordi- 
narily having  from  one  to  eight  members.  The  bankers,  however, 
have  30.  These  gild  representatives  or  "Influential  Members" 
are  the  ones  who  control  the  chamber.  There  are  between  six 
and  seven  thousand  "Ordinary  Members,"  but  they  are  not  allowed 
to  hold  office.  All  officers  and  directors  must  represent  some  gild. 

The  business  of  the  chamber  is  conducted  by  a  president, 
vice-president  and  a  board  of  33  elected  or  co-opted  directors. 
They  are  required  by  the  regulations  of  the  chamber  to  meet  once 
a  week  so  that  all  business  may  be  attended  to  promptly.  The 
members  of  the  chamber  hold  but  one  regular  meeting  a  year, 
but  can  be  called  together  at  any  time. 

The  annual  budget  of  the  chamber  is  worked  out  and  adopted 
at  the  end  of  the  preceding  year.  It  now  amounts  to  some 
$30,000.  The  money  is  furnished  by  the  different  gilds,  the 
amount  to  be  contributed  by  each  gild  being  decided  by  the  board 
of  directors  of  the  chamber.  The  gilds  in  turn  apportion  the 
assessment  among  their  members.  For  the  two  years,  1911-1912, 
the  Jade  Gild  was  assessed  $415.10. 

The  Peking  Chamber  of  Commerce  is  doing  all  that  it  can 
to  develop  the  business  of  the  city,  but  the  officers  say  that  they 
find  it  almost  impossible  to  encourage  any  manufacturing  plants 
to  locate  there  because  of  the  octroi  charges  levied  by  the 
Native  Customs  Service  on  all  goods  entering  and  leaving  the 
city.  This  tax  is  in  addition  to  all  import  duties  levied  on  foreign 
goods  when  they  come  into  the  country,  or  "likin"  charged  on  na- 
tive goods  as  they  move  from  place  to  place.  It  means  a  special 
burden  for  those  who  are  doing  business  in  Peking.  The  amount 
of  the  tax  is  ordinarily  from  two  to  three  percent  of  the  value 
of  the  goods,  but  apparently  varies  considerably  with  the  shipper 
and  the  size  of  the  shipment.  According  to  the  best  available 
figures  the  receipts  of  the  Octroi  Bureau  amounted  to  $959,066 
in  1915,  and  in  1916  to  $1,213,813,  though  for  1917  they  are 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE 

reported  as  only  $109,480.  In  the  days  of  the  Empire  the  pro- 
ceeds of  this  tax  were  used  for  the  upkeep  of  the  boudoir  of  the 
Empress  Dowager,  but  since  the  establishment  of  the  Republic 
they  have  been  turned  over  to  the  President's  office.  As  long 
as  this  tax  is  maintained,  Peking  will  probably  not  have  any 
great  industrial  development,  unless  the  factories  can  be  estab- 
lished just  outside  the  city  and  so  escape  the  payment  of  the  tax. 

MARKETS 

Peking's  75  markets  are  a  big  factor  in  the  commercial 
life  of  the  city.  There  are  the  regular  food  markets,  big 
buildings  rilled  with  all  sorts  of  meats  and  vegetables.  The 
morning  markets,  one  of  which  is  called  the  thieves'  market, 
are  held  very  early.  In  them  all  sorts  of  old  second-hand  things, 
many  of  them  salvaged  from  the  dumps,  are  offered  for  sale. 
In  the  evening  markets  goods  are  spread  on  the  edge  of  the 
side-walk  of  the  main  street  outside  of  Ch'ien  Men.  There  by 
the  light  of  flaring  torches  one  can  pick  out  and  bargain  over 
any  of  the  multitude  of  things  displayed.  The  general  markets, 
the  Tung  An  Shih  Ch'ang  particularly,  are  more  like  big  covered 
streets  than  buildings.  Shops  selling  almost  every  imaginable 
article,  toys,  jewelry,  furs,  clothing,  books,  pictures,  candies, 
cakes,  are  on  each  side  of  the  big  passageways,  while  in  the 
center  are  tables  or  stalls  on  which  are  spread  out  brassware, 
notions,  tongue  scrapers,  combs,  chopsticks,  fruit,  candies.  All 
of  the  tables  are  cleared  every  night,  the  unsold  goods  being 
packed  up  and  carried  away  in  big  baskets.  We  were  told  that 
the  merchants  in  the  center  of  the  passageway  were  not  required 
to  pay  the  monthly  license  tax  collected  from  the  regular  stores. 
Then  there  are  the  special  markets  where  only  one  article  is  sold, 
rice,  fruit,  meat,  flowers,  birds — which  Chinese  gentlemen  carry 
around  in  their  cages — pigeons  with  little  whistles  under  their 
wings  that  sound  when  the  birds  are  flying,  clothing,  curios, 
exchange.  The  ten  temple  markets  are  practically  one  moving 
market,  open  at  each  temple  on  special  days  of  the  month,  usually 
every  ten  or  fifteen  days  and  for  not  more  than  two  days  at  a 
time  except  when  the  temple  has  some  special  festival.  As  the 
temples  do  not  ordinarily  have  their  markets  on  the  same  day 
the  dealers  go  from  one  market  to  another  and  are  busy  practi- 
cally every  day  of  the  month.1  Connected  with  these  temple 
markets  there  are  always  entertainers,  story-tellers,  boxers, 
magicians,  singers  and  sometimes  lecturers  of  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation. The  crowds,  the  excitement  and  the  entertainers  are  a 
great  source  of  recreation  for  many  people. 

1  See  Appendix  for  List  of  Temple  Markets. 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


2X 


BANKS  -  MARKETS  -  FACTORIES 
EJ-  Morning  Markets -2  I  -  Night  Markets -3 

•  -  Food  Markets -4  A  -  Afternoon  Markets-4 
x  -  Special  Markets -37  •  -  Temple  Markets-10 

*  «•  Markets-15  *  -  Banks -32 

©  -  Factories -18 

Figure  18:     Key  to  Special  Markets 


Key 
No. 

1  Exchange    I 

2  Rice    4 

3  Vegetable   5 

4  Meat    3 

5  Fruit    2 

6  Sugar    3 

7  Toys    3 


Key 
No. 

8  Flowers    I 

9  Birds    2 

10  Pigeons   3 

1 1  Clothing    2 

12  Curios    8 

Total 37 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  215 

BANKS 

Although  Peking  is  not  a  commercial  city  it  is  one  of  the 
big  banking  centers  of  the  country,  largely  because  of  the  fiscal 
needs  of  the  Government.  In  1918  there  were  32  banks 
doing  business  along  more  or  less  modern  lines.  Ten  foreign 
banks,  the  Hongkong  Shanghai  Banking  Corporation,  The  Inter- 
national Banking  Corporation,  Banque  Industrielle  de  Chine,  Asia 
Banking  Corporation  and  others  are  located  in  the  Legation 
Quarter.  Most  of  these  are  exchange  banks,  their  principal 
business  being  the  buying  and  selling  of  foreign  exchange.  The 
head  offices  of  the  Bank  of  China  and  the  Bank  of  Communica- 
tions, government  banks  with  branches  all  over  China,  are  in  the 
North  City  just  west  of  Ch'ien  Men.  There  are  numerous  banks 
of  a  semi-official  nature  that  are  more  or  less  closely  connected 
with  the  work  of  various  government  boards. 

Several  international  banks,  such  as  the  Sino- Japanese  Bank, 
the  Chinese-American  Bank,  have  recently  been  established.  In 
these  the  capital  is  subscribed  part  by  Chinese  and  part  by 
Japanese,  Americans,  or  other  nationalities.  There  are  numerous 
banks  controlled  entirely  by  Chinese  but  doing  business  along 
modern  lines,  and  a  great  many  so-called  native  banks  that  are 
using  old  Chinese  banking  methods. 

Several  kinds  of  silver  dollars  are  in  circulation  in  Peking  and 
it  is  not  unusual  in  looking  through  a  package  of  dollars  to 
find  four,  five,  six  or  even  seven  different  kinds.  The  Pei  Yang 
and  the  Yuan  Shih  K'ai  dollars  are  the  most  common.  The  Mex- 
ican dollars  current  in  Shanghai  are  discounted  some  two  percent 
in  Peking  and  so  are  seldom  seen. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  change,  "big  money"  and  "small 
money."  "Big  money"  is  coppers  and  10,  20  and  50  cent 
silver  coins  that  pass  as  i/ioo,  i/io,  1/5  and  1/2  of  a  dollar. 
"Small  money"  is  coppers,  10  and  20  cent  silver  pieces  whose 
value,  in  terms  of  a  dollar,  is  not  fixed  but  fluctuates  with  the 
condition  of  exchange.  One  may  get  n  dimes  and  8  coppers  for 
a  dollar  to-day  and  12  dimes  to-morrow.  The  exchange  shops 
ordinarily  give  from  136  to  140  coppers  for  a  dollar.  The  old 
style  Chinese  cash  are  seldom  used 

Money  changers  can  be  found  on  almost  every  corner,  for 
small  change  is  heavy  and  bulky  but  one  must  always  be  sup- 
plied. The  ordinary  ricksha  man  or  small  merchant  is  unable 
to  change  any  but  small  coins  and  it  usually  saves  trouble  to 
give  them  the  exact  change. 

Paper  money  is  issued  by  several  of  the  foreign  and  Chinese 
banks  and  is  ordinarily  accepted  at  its  face  value,  though  in  times 
of  excitement  it  is  apt  to  be  discounted  or  even  refused.  In 


216  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

June,  1919,  after  the  Shantung  award  it  was  practically  impos- 
sible to  get  any  Chinese  store  or  money  changer  to  accept  any 
Japanese  bank  notes.  Notes  issued  by  the  Shanghai  branches  of 
Peking  banks  are  usually  discounted  in  Peking,  but  Tientsin  notes 
are  ordinarily  accepted  at  their  face  value.  The  notes  of  the 
Tientsin  branch  of  the  Bank  of  China  usually  pass  at  par  in 
Peking  while  those  issued  by  the  Peking  headquarters  have  been 
discounted  anywhere  from  35  to  50  percent  owing  to  the  fact 
that  in  Peking  the  banks'  silver  reserves  have  been  depleted  and 
in  the  past  the  banks  have  been  required  to  issue  notes  to  meet 
the  needs  of  the  Government.  Periodic  attempts  have  been  made 
to  raise  the  value  of  the  notes  by  issuing  government  bonds  to 
be  purchased  with  bank  notes  which  are  then  to  be  destroyed. 
So  far,  however,  they  have  not  been  very  successful.  Copper 
notes  are  issued  by  some  Chinese  banks  and  are  ordinarily 
accepted  by  every  one.  Checks  on  other  cities  are  sometimes 
at  a  premium,  but  usually  can  be  cashed  only  at  a  discount. 

The  money  changer  is  well  called  "the  curse  of  China."  One 
of  the  greatest  needs  of  the  country  is  a  uniform  system  of 
currency,  but  under  present  conditions  and  with  so  many  people 
interested  in  maintaining  the  present  system  it  will  probably  be 
a  long  time  in  coming. 

POLICE   AND   BUSINESS 

While  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce  has  been 
increasing  its  supervision  of  the  commercial  life  of  the  country, 
and  has  been  establishing  rules  and  regulations  for  the  conduct 
of  business,  the  police,  especially  since  the  Revolution  of  1911, 
have  been  increasing  the  extent  of  their  control  over  the  mer- 
chants doing  business  in  the  cities,  particularly  along  the  lines 
of  taxes  and  sanitation. 

The  Peking  police  require  that  before  a  store  can  be  opened  * 
a  report  must  be  filed  with  them,  giving  the  name  and  address 
of  the  store,  the  store  owner,  and  all  employees,  the  kind  of 
business  to  be  carried  on,  and  the  capital  subscribed.  If  it  is  a 
partnership,  the  amount  subscribed  by  each  partner  must  be 
stated.  The  new  store  must  also  find  a  store  of  about  the  same 
size  and  capital  that  will  act  as  its  guarantor.  If  on  investiga- 
tion the  police  find  that  the  above  information  is  correctly  stated, 
they  will  issue  a  permit  for  the  opening  of  the  store,  provided 
the  owner  can  show  a  receipt  from  the  tax  bureau  of  the  Munici- 
pal Council  for  the  payment  of  the  store  tax.  For  the  opening 
of  a  store  this  tax  amounts  to  30  cents  for  every  $100  invested 
in  the  store,  if  the  amount  is  less  than  $100,000.  If  the  capital 

1  Police  Regulations — Opening  of  New  Stores.     Appendix. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  217 

is  over  $100,000,  the  tax  is  $300  regardless  of  the  amount 
invested. 

If  a  store  is  moved  from  one  location  to  another  without  any 
change  of  capital  or  owner  the  tax  is  one-third  of  the  amount 
charged  a  new  store. 

Monthly  taxes  are  collected  from  all  the  stores  of  the  city 
unless  they  can  show  that  they  are  not  making  any  money.  In 
that  case  a  store  is  declared  to  be  tax  exempt  though  it  is  charged 
$i  a  year  for  the  issuing  of  the  necessary  certificate.1 

Those  who  are  making  a  profit  are  divided  into  fourteen 
classes  according  to  the  amount  of  business  they  do.  The  income 
of  the  lowest  or  Ching  Class  is  less  than  $30  a  month,  while 
stores  doing  a  business  of  over  $3,000  a  month  are  listed  in  the 
Special  Class.  The  taxes  of  the  various  classes  are  all  different 
and  range  from  40  cents  a  quarter  for  the  Ching  Class  to  $20 
or  more  a  month  for  the  Special  Class.  The  total  amount  col- 
lected from  the  25,395  stores  is  $31,210  a  month.  In  order  that 
they  may  be  sure  the  stores  are  properly  classified,  the  police 
require  that  they  be  allowed  to  examine  the  books ;  and  they  fine 
those  who  refuse  to  allow  the  examination,  or  who  make  false 
entries.  If  the  taxes  are  not  paid  promptly,  a  penalty  is  exacted 
equal  to  the  amount  of  the  tax. 

The  police  keep  track  of  the  personnel  of  the  store  by  requir- 
ing that  they  be  notified  whenever  a  new  employee  is  engaged 
or  an  old  one  leaves.2  This  makes  it  possible  for  them  to  keep 
a  close  watch  on  any  suspicious  persons,  and  helps  greatly  in 
apprehending  any  criminals.  Because  of  the  gild  requirements 
of  membership  and  apprenticeship,  it  is  almost  impossible  for 
a  man  to  change  his  trade;  and  because  so  many  of  the  stores 
require  a  man  to  be  guaranteed  before  they  will  employ  him, 
it  is  hard  for  any  one  to  go  from  one  city  to  another  in  search 
of  work.  Consequently,  by  searching  a  small  field  the  police 
are  nearly  always  able  to  locate  any  man  they  may  want. 

In  order  that  they  may  check  up  on  any  infraction  of  their 
regulations  the  police  make  a  general  inspection  of  all  the  stores 
once  every  ten  days.  This  inspection  covers  particularly  the 
observance  of  the  regulations  concerning  sanitation  and  health. 
The  police  have  adopted  and  published  a  series  of  regulations 
that  are  larguy  based  upon  those  used  in  western  countries ;  but 
they  are  finding  it  difficult  to  enforce  them  as  they  are  so  far 
ahead  of  the  standards  to  which  the  Chinese  are  accustomed. 

New  rules,  new  taxes  and  periodical  inspections  are  bringing 
the  police  and  the  merchants  into  closer  relationship,  but  the 
powers  of  the  police  seem  to  be  increasing  only  as  the  business 

1  Police  Tax  Regulations.     Appendix. 

2  Police  Regulations  for   Store-Keepers.     Appendix. 


218  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

men  are  willing  to  let  them.  The  power  of  the  Government  to 
collect  taxes  has  never  been  questioned,  but  the  business  men 
do  have  something  to  say  about  the  amount  of  the  taxes.  Con- 
sequently, .the  officials  do  not  often  attempt  to  levy  new  taxes 
or  increase  old  ones,  unless  they  are  sure  that  the  merchants  are 
willing  to  accept  the  change.  So  it  is  with  new  regulations  con- 
cerning business.  When  the  police  are  planning  to  adopt  any 
new  rule,  they  usually  discuss  it  with  either  the  chamber  of 
commerce  or  the  heads  of  the  gilds  that  will  be  affected,  and  do 
not  often  try  to  enforce  it  if  it  does  not  meet  with  approval. 
The  police  know  only  too  well  the  strength  of  the  business  com- 
munity and  the  result  of  attempting  to  enforce  regulations  that 
the  merchants  refuse  to  accept. 

INDUSTRIAL   EDUCATION 

The  industrial  side  of  education  in  Peking  is  cared  for  by 
three  schools  (see  map  14) :  the  Higher  Technical  College,  the 
Industrial  Department  of  the  National  Teachers'  College,  and 
a  school  for  apprentices.  The  first  of  these  trains  men  to  be 
technical  engineers,  the  second  prepares  men  to  teach  architec- 
ture, carpentry,  metal  working,  machine  work,  manual  training, 
while  the  third  gives  boys  training  in  carpentry,  machine  work 
and  electroplating.  In  all  three,  the  students  are  learning  to  use 
modern  machinery  and  modern  industrial  processes,  and  they 
should  be  the  ones  who  will  help  China  adapt  western  methods 
to  her  developing  industrial  life. 

In  the  past  the  students  have  been  given  practical  experience 
by  work  done  under  school  rather  than  factory  conditions. 
Now,  it  is  proposed  that  the  school  shops  be  turned  into  real 
factories  that  shall  manufacture  articles  for  the  market,  so  that 
the  students  may  have  experience  with  the  conditions  they  will 
meet  when  they  leave  school.  An  organization  has  recently  been 
perfected  whereby  the  three  industrial  schools  shall  work  together. 
The  shops  of  each  are  to  specialize  on  certain  types  of  work, 
and  then  the  schools  are  to  exchange  pupils. 

The  Student  Strike  of  1919  and  the  campaign  for  the  develop- 
ment of  native  industries  showed  very  clearly  the  advantage  of 
the  students  doing  the  work  themselves.  In  the  Higher  Tech- 
nical College  the  students  received  their  practical  training  by 
watching  workmen  go  through  a  process,  rather  than  by  doing 
it  themselves.  They  found,  however,  that  they  were  unable  to 
go  to  the  small  shops  of  the  city  and  show  their  mechanics  by 
a  practical  demonstration  how  to  manufacture  some  new  articles ; 
while  the  boys  who  had  done  the  actual  work  themselves  were 
able  to  teach  the  shop-keepers  how  to  produce  things  that,  in  the 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  219 

past,  had  been  manufactured  only  in  Japan.  Because  of  this 
demonstration,  the  students  have  demanded  that  all  of  them  be 
given  practical  experience  in  industrial  work,  and  this  has  made 
possible  the  combination  of  the  technical  schools  and  the  organ- 
ization in  Peking  of  a  single  system  of  industrial  training. 

MODERN   INDUSTRY 

Other  cities  in  China  point  with  pride  to  the  modern  facto- 
ries which  they  have  established,  but  Peking  has  little  industry 
that  is  efficient  and  on  a  modern  basis.  The  city  has  long  been 
a  political  rather  than  an  industrial  center,  and  the  local  octroi 
charges  have  tended  to  discourage  the  establishment  of  modern 
factories  inside  the  walls.  The  principal  examples  of  modern 
industry  are  the  telephone  company,  the  electric  light  company, 
water  company,  match  factory,  glass  factory  and  government 
uniform  factory.  The  telephone  company,  electric  light  com- 
pany and  water  company  have  covered  practically  the  entire  city 
with  their  lines,  and  all  give  fairly  efficient  service. 

The  match  factory  is  reported  to  be  doing  work  on  thoroughly 
efficient  modern  lines,  but  employing  a  great  number  of  children. 
A  more  detailed  report  cannot  be  given,  as  this  was  the  one  place 
in  Peking  to  which  we  were  denied  admission. 

The  glass  factory  stands  as  a  warning  to  those  who  would 
introduce  modern  methods  and  modern  machinery  in  China  with- 
out first  training  men  to  operate  and  care  for  the  machines.  The 
machinery  was  imported  and  the  factory  built  at  an  expense  of 
nearly  one  million  dollars;  but,  as  no  trained  men  were  avail- 
able, the  machinery  was  broken  and  the  factory  had  to  be  closed 
down. 

While  the  big  glass  factory  with  its  complicated  machinery 
has  been  a  failure,  one  of  the  Buddhist  Temples  in  the  South 
City  is  running  a  small  factory  turning  out  lamp  chimneys  and 
window  glass,  which  require  but  little  machinery.  Two  furnaces 
are  kept  in  constant  operation,  and  the  work  is  done  by  some 
thirty  workers  and  seventy  apprentices.  The  workers  are  paid 
from  $30  to  $50  a  month,  while  the  apprentices  receive  from  50 
cents  to  $3  a  month.  The  hours  of  work  are  from  3  A.M.  to 
5  P.M. 

The  living  conditions  in  this  factory  were  the  worst  that 
we  saw.  Dirt  and  disorder  were  everywhere.  Broken  glass  was 
scattered  all  over  the  grounds  around  the  buildings,  and  there 
seemed  to  be  no  attempt  at  sanitation.  The  70  apprentices 
slept  in  one  large  room.  This  gave  the  boys  barely  enough  space 
to  lie  down,  even  when  they  were  crowded  on  to  two  platforms, 
one  six  feet  above  the  other.  There  was  practically  no  light 


220  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

in  the  room,  and  the  door  afforded  the  only  ventilati9n.  The  boys 
themselves  looked  tired  and  worn,  and  many  were  in  need  of 
medical  attention. 

The  Government  in  its  uniform  factory,  established  by  the 
Board  of  War  in  1912,  is  making  equipment  for  the  army  under 
modern  factory  conditions,  and  is  using  modern  machinery  and 
quantity  production  method  in  some  lines,  while  in  others  the 
old  system  of  hand  work  prevails,  though  on  a  larger  scale  than 
is  ordinarily  found  in  any  of  the  Chinese  shops. 

The  factory  employs  from  five  to  seven  hundred  men  and 
three  to  five  thousand  women,  and  trains  about  three  hundred 
apprentices.  The  boys  come  to  the  factory  in  response  to  pub- 
lished advertisements,  and  are  given  a  three  years'  course.  Only 
one  class  is  taken  in  at  a  time.  It  is  carried  through  the  three 
years  of  training  and  then  a  new  class  is  started.  After  they 
have  graduated,  about  two-thirds  of  the  apprentices  stay  on  as 
regular  workmen.  The  apprentices  are  paid  from  50  cents  to 
$3  a  month  during  their  training,  and  are  given  their  room, 
board  and  clothes.  The  workers  are  graded  into  four  classes. 
The  best  men  are  employed  on  piece  work,  and  are  able  to  make 
as  much  as  $20  a  month.  The  others  are  paid  by  the  month, 
and  receive  $9.50,  $10  and  $10.50  a  month.  The  workers 
do  not  live  in  the  factory,  and  have  to  feed  themselves.  This  puts 
them  on  about  the  same  basis  as  the  men  who  live  in  the  stores, 
are  given  their  food,  and  paid  from  $5.50  to  $6.50  a  month. 

Women  are  used  only  for  sewing  the  uniforms.  They  all 
work  by  hand,  and  are  paid  by  the  piece,  4  coppers  for  sewing 
a  pair  of  trousers,  7  coppers  for  a  pair  of  wadded  trousers,  and 
5^2  coppers  for  a  coat.  A  fast  worker  is  able  to  make  three  suits 
a  day.  This  gives  her  approximately  $6.50  a  month.  A  slow 
worker  earns  about  half  this  amount.  The  supervisors,  in  charge 
of  500  women,  receive  $10  a  month. 

Girls  as  young  as  12  years  are  allowed  to  work  in  the  factory, 
but  most  of  the  workers  are  over  20  years  old. 

The  hours  of  work  for  the  women  in  the  busy  seasons  are 
from  5  to  5  with  two  stops  for  meals.  In  the  slack  seasons  they 
work  until  noon.  The  men  ordinarily  work  from  6  to  n  30  and 
from  2  to  6:30,  but  they  stop  at  3  o'clock  when  work  is  slack. 

The  working  conditions  in  the  factory  are  very  good.  The 
buildings  are  long  one-story  stone  structures  and  are  well  ven- 
tilated. They  are  so  wide,  however,  that  it  is  hard  to  get  proper 
light  to  those  who  are  working  in  the  center  of  the  room.  Addi- 
tional light  through  the  roof  would  be  a  great  improvement. 
More  artificial  light  is  also  needed  for  the  times  when  daylight  is 
not  available. 

The  workers  all  appeared  to  be  well  cared  for  and  contented. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE 

Certainly  their  working  conditions  are  very  much  better  than 
those  found  in  a  great  many  of  the  smaller  shops.  The  employees 
are  all  fairly  permanent,  as  it  requires  only  from  three  to  five 
hundred  new  workers  a  year  to  maintain  a  full  working  force. 

The  out-put  of  the  factory  amounted  to  some  650,000  complete 
uniforms  a  year  and  330,000  single  garments,  half  of  which  are 
padded  with  cotton,  and  half  lined  with  sheep's  wool.  Besides 
this,  the  factory  makes  shoes,  mess-kits,  entrenching  tools,  metal 
buckets,  tents,  saddles,  etc. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  factory  is  unable  to  operate  at 
full  capacity  it  is  stated  that  Marshal  Tuan  Chi  Jui  is  planning 
to  establish  a  branch  factory  outside  the  east  wall  of  the  city, 
and  that  teachers  will  be  sent  from  the  present  factory  to  train 
the  new  workers. 

At  present  the  government  uniform  factory  is  the  only  place 
in  Peking  where  women  are  employed  in  any  considerable  num- 
bers, for  under  the  Chinese  system  of  industry  women  ordinarily 
do  their  work  in  the  home.  Only  a  few  are  employed  in  the  shops 
and  stores.  As  the  factories  increase,  women  are  going  to  be 
employed  more  and  more,  and  even  the  children  will  be  put  to 
work.  Wages  will  be  low,  the  hours  long,  and  working  condi- 
tions probably  bad,  unless  the  chamber  of  commerce  and  other 
commercial  organizations  learn  from  the  experience  of  the  other 
cities  of  China  and,  by  their  control  over  the  employers,  insist 
that  Peking  be  spared  some  of  the  many  problems  that  come  with 
the  development  of  modern  industry  in  a  country  where  standards 
of  living  are  low  and  where  the  large  numbers  make  the  economic 
pressure  severe. 

Although  there  is  but  little  modern  industry  in  Peking  at  the 
present,  it  ought  to  develop  more  rapidly  in  the  near  future. 
Transportation  and  raw  materials  are  easily  available;  and  if 
government  barriers  can  be  removed  Peking  should  be  one  of 
the  industrial  centers  of  the  country.  There  are  deposits  of  coal 
and  lime  in  the  western  hills  only  twenty  miles  from  the  city; 
and  the  railroads  radiating  in  four  directions  put  Peking  in  close 
touch  with  the  grain  and  cattle  country  of  Mongolia,  the  timber 
of  Manchuria,  the  iron  mines  of  Shansi  and  the  cotton  fields  of 
South  Chihli.  The  real  barriers  to  the  industrial  development 
of  the  city  are  lack  of  water  transportation,  the  likin  and  octroi 
charges  (local  customs  duties),  and  the  lack  of  protection  from 
aggression  on  the  part  of  the  officials. 

Likin  stations  or  customs  barriers  for  native  goods  have  been 
established  at  short  intervals  throughout  the  country  and  make 
the  shipping  of  materials  difficult  and  expensive;  for  although 
the  charges  are  nominally  fixed,  the  actual  amount  paid  is  usually 
determined  by  agreement.  The  octroi  collected  on  goods  going 


PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

through  the  gates  of  Peking  is  an  added  burden  on  any  business 
being  done  in  the  city.  Then  too  even  in  spite  of  the  gilds 
and  chamber  of  commerce  the  officials  often  levy  fines,  assess- 
ments or  special  taxes,  on  particularly  prosperous  industries,  and 
so  have  driven  most  of  the  present  day  development  of  Chinese 
enterprise  into  the  Treaty  Ports  where  foreign  control  has  estab- 
lished security  and  uniformity  of  taxes.  As  these  barriers  gradu- 
ally disappear,  Peking  can  easily  become  a  large  industrial  center, 
even  though  it  is  the  capital  of  the  country.  Because  of  the  octroi 
charges  on  all  goods  entering  and  leaving  the  city,  and  because 
of  the  location  of  the  coal  and  railroad  facilities,  the  development 
will  probably  be  outside  rather  than  inside  the  walls  of  the  city, 
and  the  result  will  be  a  Greater  Peking. 


CHAPTER  IX 
RECREATION 

Many  writers  in  the  past  have  pointed  out  the  lack  of  whole- 
some recreation  among  the  Chinese.  Organized  recreation  was 
highly  commercialized  and  was  often  near  if  not  connected  with 
the  prostitute  quarter.  Unorganized  amusement  frequently 
involved  gambling.  And  back  of  it  all  was  the  fact  that  there 
was  little  if  any  social  relationship  between  the  sexes. 

These  same  conditions  prevail  even  now.  Athletics,  which  are 
confined  almost  exclusively  to  the  students,  are  about  the  only 
non-commercialized  organized  recreation.  Most  of  the  recreation 
life  is  centered  in  the  South  City  near  the  segregated  districts 
(see  map);  there  is  a  close  connection  between  the  restaurants 
and  the  houses  of  prostitution,  the  girls  often  being  called  in  to 
act  as  entertainers  at  a  dinner  party  or  banquet;  actresses  are 
appearing  on  many  of  the  theater  stages  and,  in  spite  of  police 
regulations,  many  of  them  are  prostitutes  making  use  of  the 
theater  for  advertising.  Gambling  is  part  of  most  of  the  table 
and  card  games.  It  is  only  very  recently  that  there  has  been  any 
play  or  recreation  that  includes  both  men  and  women,  and  it  has 
undoubtedly  been  the  lack  of  any  opportunity  of  association  with 
other  women  that  has  led  so  many  men  to  seek  the  society  of 
the  courtesan  for  social  entertainment  if  nothing  more. 

Recreatioti  in  Peking  clearly  reflects  the  transitional  stage  of 
the  life  of  the  people.  The  old  style,  conservative  forms,  in 
vogue  for  centuries,  theater  going,  feasting,  listening  to  story 
tellers,  Chinese  horse  racing,  the  singsong  girl  or  public  enter- 
tainer, still  have  a  prominent  place,  but  even  they  are  being 
modified.  "New  style"  plays  are  being  given  and  the  story  tellers 
are  using  new  "educational"  stories  as  well  as  the  old  historical 
tales.  Totally  new  forms  of  amusement  are  also  being  introduced, 
pool  and  billiards,  moving  pictures,  public  parks  and  the  New- 
World,  the  Coney  Island  of  Peking.  The  next  few  years  will 
determine  what  of  the  old  forms  will  remain,  what  of  the  new 
will  have  real  recreational  value  and  appeal  for  the  Chinese  and 
to  what  extent  they  will  be  commercialized  and  will  contribute 
only  to  the  coffers  of  enterprising  exploiters. 

The  great  need  in  the  Chinese  cities  is  for  some  recreation 
that  will  appeal  without  the  excitement  of  gambling,  that  will 

223 


PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

not  require  any  large  expenditure  of  money  and  so  will  be  avail- 
able for  the  masses,  that  will  make  it  possible  for  the  new  and 
gradually  growing  freedom  between  the  sexes  to  have  a  whole- 
some outlet.  Neither  in  old  nor  new  China  has  there  been  any- 
thing that  in  any  way  corresponds  to  the  playground  movement 
in  America. 

In  this  chapter  we  have  attempted  to  describe  some  of  the 
features  of  the  recreational  life  of  the  city  that  are  not  ordi- 
narily touched  on  by  writers  on  Chinese  life,  the  numbers  of 
the  different  kinds  of  amusements,  price  of  admission,  the  average 
attendance,  etc.  As  practically  all  our  studies  had  to  be  made 
by  Chinese  it  has  not  been  possible  to  make  a  critical  study  of 
the  Chinese  amusements. 

THEATERS 

The  theater  is  probably  the  most  popular  sort  of  organized 
recreation  in  Peking,  making,  as  it  does,  a  great  appeal  to  the 
Chinese  with  its  brilliant  and  gorgeous  costumes,  loud  crashing 
music  and  plays  that  are  connected  with  China's  past.  There  are 
in  the  city  22.  regular  theaters,  8  mat  shed  theaters — buildings 
made  of  a  wooden  framework  covered  with  matting — and  some 
nine  restaurants,  provincial  halls  and  temples  where  theatrical 
performances  are  regularly  given.  Practically  all  of  the  gild 
halls,  provincial  and  business,  have  a  theater  stage,  but  perform- 
ances are  given  on  these  only  when  the  gild  has  one  of  its  meet- 
ings. Nearly  all  of  the  theaters  are  in  the  South  City  (see  map)  ; 
six  of  the  mat  shed  theaters  are  at  the  T'ien  Ch'iao,  a  bridge 
halfway  between  the  Ch'ien  Men  and  the  Temple  of  Heaven, 
and  one  is  near  Ch'ien  Men  itself. 

The  Chinese  theaters  are  differently  organized  from  those 
of  the  west.  The  owners  or  proprietors,  known  as  hou  t'ai  or 
"those  behind  the  stage/'  arrange  with  an  actors'  club,  known 
as  ch'ien  t'ai  or  "those  in  front  of  the  stage,"  to  spend  a  certain 
number  of  days  or  weeks  in  the  theater.  The  income  is  then 
divided,  30  percent  to  the  owner  and  70  percent  to  the  club 
manager,  the  salaries  of  all  the  actors  being  paid  by  the  club 
manager  rather  than  the  theater  owner. 

Prior  to  1912  no  actresses  were  allowed  on  the  stage  in 
Peking.  The  acting  of  the  female  roles  was  naturally  a  problem 
for  the  actors  but  those  who  were  successful  were  tremendously 
popular.  Women  are  now  appearing  in  at  least  eleven  of  the 
theaters  but  in  no  case  do  men  and  women  appear  on  the  stage 
at  the  same  time.  The  clubs  are  either  all  men  or  all  women. 

Ordinarily  a  theater  gives  twelve  or  thirteen  plays  every 
day,  the  best  being  saved  till  the  last,  though  the  number  may 


RECREATION 


RECREATION 


•  -  Billiards  -17 

C.P.-  Central  Par* 

O  -  Festival  Grounds 

|  -  Bowling -5 

M  -  Moving  Picture  Theatre -5 

z  -  Zoological  Gardens 


*-   New  World 

A  -  P'eng  or  Outdoor  Theatre -9 

a  -  South  City  Amusement  Park 

T  -  Theatres -22 

x  -  Story  Tellers 

&&  Segregated  Districts 


Figure  19 


be  reduced  to  six  or  seven  if  the  dramas  are  especially  long. 
Naturally  the  theaters  run  long  hours,  usually  from  eleven  in 
the  morning  until  midnight  or  later  with  only  one  stop  of  half 
an  hour  at  6  o'clock.  Most  of  the  plays  are  old  classical  ones 
written  in  "wen  li"  or  the  high  literary  style  that  is  fully  under- 
stood by  only  a  limited  number  who  have  had  a  good  education. 


226  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

In  some  of  the  theaters  modern  plays  are  being  given  in  the 
colloquial  Mandarin  that  can  be  understood  by  any  one.  Some 
also  give  plays  in  dialects  other  than  Pekingese,  Shanghai  in 
particular,  so  that  those  who  come  from  the  provinces  south  of 
the  Yangtze  may  be  able  to  understand  them.  As  far  as  we  can 
find,  but  few  of  the  plays  are  immoral  or  suggestive,  though  there 
is  something  of  that  tendency  in  the  more  modern  ones. 

The  average  seating  capacity  of  the  larger  theaters  is  about 
1,000  and  the  average  attendance  for  the  better  dramas  is  from 
700  to  800.  The  mat  shed  theaters  seat  on  the  average  700  or 
800  but,  as  their  entertainments  are  less  formal  than  those  in 
the  larger  theaters,  being  usually  a  Chinese  equivalent  for  vaude- 
ville, they  draw  large  crowds  that,  coming  and  going,  will  some- 
times number  over  1,000  during  the  day. 

The  charges  in  the  theaters  vary  but  little.  The  average  for 
a  first  class  box  is  400  coppers  ($2.90),  200  coppers  ($145)  for 
a  private  table,  first  class  seat  40  coppers,  second  class  30,  and 
third  class  20.  In  several  of  the  more  famous  theaters,  the  Wen 
Ming  Yuan  and  others,  the  charges  are  somewhat  higher,  while 
in  the  Ti  I  Wu  T'ai,  the  largest  theater  in  Peking,  a  box  costs  $8, 
first  class  ticket  80  cents,  second  class  50  cents,  and  third  class 
30  cents.  On  special  occasions  when  plays  are  given  for  chari- 
table purposes  or  when  famous  actors,  Mei  Lang  Fang,  Lao 
Hsiang  Chin  and  others,  appear  the  charges  may  be  somewhat 
higher.  The  mat  shed  theaters  usually  charge  5  or  6  coppers  a 
person,  though  one  charges  10  coppers  for  a  man  and  12  coppers 
for  a  woman. 

In  the  past,  women  used  to  sit  on  one  side  of  the  theater  and 
men  on  the  other  and  are  still  required  to  do  so  according  to 
the  police  regulations,  but  the  division  is  gradually  disappearing. 

First  class  actors  are  paid  from  $5  to  $10  a  day,  those  of 
second  rate  ability  from  $2  to  $5,  while  third  and  fourth  rate 
men  earn  anywhere  from  30  coppers  to  $2.  A  few  famous 
actors  receive  $100  a  day,  while  those  who  are  very  popular, 
Lao  Hsiang  Chin  and  others,  receive  from  $100  to  $300  for 
every  drama  in  which  they  act. 

The  actors  are  trained  by  the  apprentice  system  with  seven 
years  as  their  full  term  of  service.  After  they  have  studied  for 
five  years  they  are  allowed  to  join  the  actors'  clubs  and  receive 
wages.  Actresses  are  trained  by  special  private  teachers,  have  no 
fixed  course  and  may  take  up  work  on  the  stage  after  three  or 
four  years  of  study.  The  police  have  very  strict  regulations  to 
prevent  the  actresses  from  becoming  prostitutes,  but  in  some 
theaters  women  from  the  licensed  quarter  appear,  while  in  others 
there  is  considerable  clandestine  practice. 

All  theaters  have  to  be  licensed  by  the  police  and  pay  a  monthly 


RECREATION  «27 

tax  of  $60  and  $30  extra  for  police  service.  The  mat  shed  the- 
aters pay  $30  a  month.  The  police  also  act  as  censors  of  all  plays. 
Any  new  plays  must  be  submitted,  together  with  any  new  songs, 
to  the  police  for  their  approval,  and  the  day's  program  of  plays 
must  be  reported  before  the  performance  begins. 

The  police  theater  regulations  state  that  in  olden  times  the- 
aters outside  the  walls  and  giving  plays  at  night  were  required  to 
contribute  50  percent  of  their  receipts  to  the  workshops  for  poor 
people.  Now  this  custom  is  discontinued  and  the  theaters  are 
required  to  make  a  flat  rate  contribution  of  $10  a  night,  forward- 
ing the  money  to  the  police.1 

v 

STORY-TELLING 

Listening  to  stories  is  another  very  ancient  form  of  amuse- 
ment which  is  still  popular  in  Peking.  This  seems  to  be  entered 
into  with  zest  by  all  classes  of  people — ricksha  coolies  in  little 
street  tea  houses,  children  in  the  back  lanes,  large  crowds  at  the 
temple  or  street  markets  and  private  gatherings. 

The  story-tellers  are  men  who  make  a  business  of  the  work, 
having  gone  through  an  apprenticeship  and  learned  by  heart  a 
great  many  stories  that  are  taken,  for  the  most  part,  from  the 
ancient  Chinese  books,  East  Chou,  West  Han,  Ta  Sung  Pa  I, 
Biography  of  Chi  Kung,  and  others.2 

When  they  are  working  in  a  park  or  on  the  street,  the  story- 
tellers stop  their  stories  at  a  most  exciting  place  and  then  refuse 
to  go  on  until  they  have  taken  up  a  collection.  In  many  of  the 
tea  houses,  some  of  which  have  halls  seating  well  over  one  hun- 
dred people,  a  definite  charge,  usually  two  coppers,  is  made  for 
the  story-telling.  In  this  case  from  20  percent  to  40  percent  of 
the  profits  goes  to  the  proprietor  of  the  tea  house.  Shuang  Han 
Ping,  one  of  the  most  famous  story-tellers  in  Peking,  reports  that 
he  receives  about  1,000  coppers  ($7.25)  a  day.  Several  who  are 
not  so  well  known  make  from  300  to  600  coppers  ($2.i5-$4.35) 
a  day.  The  smallest  amount  reported  by  any  story-teller  was 
100  coppers  (72  cents)  a  day. 

The  social  education  department  (T'ung  Su  K'e)  of  the  Board 
of  Education  has  realized  the  importance  of  story-telling  as  a 
means  of  influencing  the  people  and  has  appointed  certain  mem- 
bers of  the  board  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  story-tellers  and  help 
them  improve  their  stories. 

The  social  education  department  has  also  helped  the  story- 
tellers to  organize  a  gild  with  the  object  of  "improving  the  old 
stories  that  have  been  told  for  years  and  to  add  new  and  modern 


1  Police  Theater  Regulations,  Art.  21. 

*  See  Appendix  for  more  complete  list  of 


story  sources. 


228  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

material,  thereby  helping  the  morality  and  education  of  the  peo- 
ple." Any  story-teller  who  is  properly  introduced  may  join  the 
gild,  provided  he  agrees  to  live  up  to  its  regulations — the  chief 
of  which  forbids  the  telling  of  any  stories  injurious  to  the  moral- 
ity of  the  people — is  guaranteed  by  two  gild  members  and  pays 
an  initiation  fee  of  30  cents.  Gild  headquarters  have  been  estab- 
lished in  the  First  Special  School,  north  of  the  Hsi  Ssu  P'ailou. 
The  management  of  the  gild  is  in  the  hands  of  a  president,  eight 
councilors  and  a  committee  of  10.  Four  investigators,  five  in- 
spectors and  five  secretaries  are  employed  by  the  gild.  The  period 
of  apprenticeship  is  fixed  by  the  gild  at  four  years.  The  boys 
are  assigned  to  some  one  teacher  and  are  trained  by  him  until 
they  can  go  through  the  stories  fluently  and  vividly  without  for- 
getting any  important  point.  During  the  time  of  their  apprentice- 
ship any  money  earned  by  the  boys  is  turned  over  to  their  teachers, 
who  in  turn  supply  them  with  30  to  40  coppers  a  day  for  food 
and  clothing. 

In  order  that  the  gild  may  keep  track  of  the  work  of  the  story- 
tellers, investigators  and  inspectors  are  sent  to  listen  to  the  stories 
and  make  a  written  report,  giving  the  name  of  the  story-teller, 
the  name  and  location  of  the  tea  house,  the  time  of  beginning  and 
ending  the  story,  the  name  of  the  story,  the  general  condition  of 
the  meeting,  and  general  conditions  and  remarks. 

TEMPLE   MARKET   FESTIVALS 

Although  theater-going  and  feasting  have  long  been  the  most 
popular  forms  of  recreation  for  the  middle  and  upper  classes,  the 
temple  market  festivals  have  long  been  great  social  meeting  places 
for  the  common  people  and  even  for  many  of  the  well-to-do.  At 
these  festivals,  one  of  which  is  held  somewhere  in  Peking  nearly 
every  day,  there  is  religious  worship,  and  at  the  street  booths 
barter  is  carried  on  with  all  sorts  of  merchandise  on  sale — birds, 
dogs,  goldfish,  baskets,  brass,  hair  ornaments  and  curios.  And 
there  are  various  kinds  of  entertainment — boxing,  wrestling, 
story-telling,  acrobatics,  and  sleight-of-hand  performances.  Even 
though  there  was  nothing  more  than  the  crowd,  the  market  would 
appeal  to  the  Chinese,  for  they  are  fond  of  being  in  a  large  crowd. 
It  is  interesting  to  them  to  jostle  around  and  see  what  is  going  on, 
or,  as  they  put  it,  K'an  je  nao  (see  a  hot  noise).  Perhaps  the 
best  known  of  the  fairs  is  that  held  at  Lung  Fo  Ssu,  an  old  lama 
temple  near  the  Tung  Ssu  P'ailou  (East  Four  P'ailou),  three 
times  a  month  on  the  gth  and  loth,  iQth  and  2Oth,  2Qth  and  3Oth 
of  the  Chinese  month.  The  principal  fair  in  the  west  city  is  held 
at  Hu  Kup  Ssu  on  the  7th  and  8th,  I7th  and  i8th,  27th  and  28th 
of  the  Chinese  month.  The  dealers  and  entertainers  follow  the 


RECREATION  229 

9 

fairs  from  one  part  of  the  city  to  another,  day  after  day.1  Besides 
the  regular  temple  markets,  many  other  temples  have  special 
festivals  once  or  twice  a  year,  particularly  during  the  first  month 
of  the  Chinese  calendar,  and  these  always  draw  their  crowds  of 
spectators  and  entertainers. 

HORSE  RACING 

Horse  races  are  sometimes  held  in  connection  with  these 
temple  fairs,  though  the  Chinese  style  of  racing  seems  very  tame 
indeed  to  one  used  to  the  competitive  system  of  the  west.  Out- 
side of  the  west  wall  of  Peking  at  the  Po  Yun  Kuan,  races  are 
held  at  the  yearly  festival  of  the  temple.  The  race  course  is  a 
level  piece  of  ground  some  300  yards  long  and  25  yards  wide, 
lined  on  both  sides  with  mat  sheds  where  the  spectators  can  sit 
and  sip  tea  or  nibble  melon  seeds  while  they  watch  the  horses 
perform.  The  "racing"  consists  of  riding  the  horses  up  and 
down  the  course  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  spectators,  though 
many  of  the  riders  dressed  in  silks  and  furs  are  there  themselves 
for  the  joy  of  the  sport  as  well.  The  horses  do  not  start  to- 
gether, nor  do  they  compete.  When  any  one  rides  particularly 
fast  or  well  the  crowd  applauds  vigorously,  while  any  horse  that 
breaks  into  a  gallop  is  sure  to  be  greeted  with  a  cry  of  Pu  Hao ! 
Pu  Hao!  (Poor!  Poor!).  Horse  racing  is  also  held  occasionally 
at  a  recreation  center  in  the  South  City,  just  outside  the  wall  of 
the  grounds  of  the  Temple  of  Agriculture. 

Horse  racing,  western  style,  is  held  at  P'ao  Ma  Ch'ang,  several 
miles  west  of  Peking,  in  the  spring  and  fall.  These  meets  are 
principally  for  foreigners ;  it  is  their  horses  that  are  entered  and 
they  themselves  often  do  the  riding,  but  there  are,  however, 
always  large  numbers  of  Chinese  among  the  crowd.  Large 
groups  of  Chinese  also  get  enjoyment  from  watching  the  foreign- 
ers play  polo  on  the  glacis  of  the  Legation  Quarter. 

BIRD   FLYING 

An  amusement  of  many  of  the  old  style  middle  and  lower 
class  Chinese  is  the  flying  of  birds.  In  the  open  spaces  of  the 
city  groups  of  middle-aged  or  old  men  often  gather,  each  with 
his  bird  cage,  and  spend  long  hours  simply  watching  their  birds 
fly  around,  the  well  trained  ones  unrestricted,  the  others  with  a 
string  attached  to  their  legs. 

Falconry  is  practiced  by  some,  and  occasionally  men  can  be 
seen  walking  through  the  streets  with  the  hooded  birds  perched 
on  their  arms. 

1  See  appendix  for  complete  list  of  Temple  Markets. 


230  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

CARD   AND   TABLE   GAMES 

The  Chinese  have  a  long  list  of  card  and  table  games,  chess, 
dominoes,  etc.,  the  most  popular  of  which  is  "sparrow"  or  "ma 
chiang,"  a  famous  gambling  game  played  with  elaborate  sets  of 
ivory,  metal,  or  wooden  pieces.  It  is  one  of  the  unfortunate  fea- 
tures of  the  entire  Chinese  recreational  system  that  so  much  of 
their  play  involves  gambling,  often  for  huge  stakes.  Those  who 
have  sought  to  introduce  new  games  devoid  of  gambling  have 
met  with  success  for  a  time,  only  to  find  that,  before  long,  the 
old  games  with  the  thrill  and  excitement  of  a  money  stake  are 
taken  up  again. 

The  children  have  a  large  number  of  street  games,  many  of 
which  are  similar  to  those  of  the  west,  hide-and-seek,  baby-in- 
the-hat,  crap  shooting,  throwing  stones  or  cards  at  a  line,  etc. 
The  Chinese  version  of  battle-dore  and  shuttle-cock  is  played 
with  a  weighted  feather  kicked  with  the  side  of  the  heel,  the 
object  of  the  game  being  to  see  how  many  times  or  in  how  many 
fancy  ways  the  shuttle  can  be  kicked  without  being  missed.  Prac- 
tically none  of  the  games  are  played  by  more  than  a  few  children 
in  a  group.  The  larger  organized  and  group  games  are  missing. 
Even  among  the  children  many  of  the  games  involve  gambling. 

RESTAURANTS 

The  restaurants,  of  which  there  are  hundreds,  are  among  the 
chief  social  and  recreation  centers  of  almost  every  Chinese  city. 
Custom  practically  forbids  a  man  to  entertain  in  his  home,  so 
social,  business  and  political  friends  must  be  taken  to  a  restau- 
rant. In  Peking  most  of  those  of  the  better  class  are  in  the 
South  City  near  the  amusement  quarter  (see  map)  and  some 
streets  are  practically  given  over  to  them.  In  order  to  meet  the 
keen  competition,  many  of  the  restaurants  specialize  on  certain 
types  of  food  and  kinds  of  cooking,  Canton,  Shanghai,  Foochow, 
Peking,  Mohammedan  food.  The  number  serving  foreign  food 
is  rapidly  increasing.  A  few  years  ago  none  could  be  found  in 
Peking,  but  now  an  excellent  dinner  is  served  by  the  Oriental 
Hotel,  while  some  of  the  restaurants  in  the  New  World,  the 
Tung  An  and  other  markets  and  in  the  South  City  offer  more  or 
less  complete  menus  of  foreign  dishes.  Ice  cream  parlors  are 
also  being  established.  The  T'ungchou  dairy  has  opened  one  on 
Ta  Cha  Lan,  one  of  the  most  crowded  streets  of  the  South  City, 
and  there  is  one  each  on  Hatamen  and  Morrison  Streets  in  the 
North  City. 

On  entering  a  restaurant  one  usually  passes  through  the  busy 
smoking  kitchen,  goes  up  a  steep  flight  of  steps  and  comes  out 


RECREATION 


HOTELS 

*  -  Hotels  *  -  Restaurants 

x  -  Inns  •  -  Bars 

figures  show  number  of  hotels,  etc.,  in  each  locality 

Figure  20 


onto  a  large  court  surrounded  on  four  sides  by  a  two,  three  or 
even  four-story  building.  Balconies  run  around  the  four  sides 
of  the  court  and  the  dining  rooms  open  off  them.  The  servants 
are  coming  and  going,  shouting  their  orders,  and  one  can  usually 
hear  some  of  the  guests  busy  at  gambling,  or  hilarious  after  too 
much  Chinese  wine.  If  other  entertainment  is  desired  most  of 
the  restaurants  are  only  too  glad  to  call  in  entertainers,  women 
from  the  first-class  houses  of  prostitution. 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

BATHHOUSES 

The  bathhouses  are  part  of  the  Peking's  recreational  life,  as 
they  are  real  social  centers  used  for  resting  and  visiting  as  well 
as  bathing.  A  great  many  men,  when  they  have  an  important 
matter  to  talk  over,  go  to  a  bathhouse  and  discuss  their  business 
after  their  bath. 

Just  as  the  other  recreational  life  centers  in  the  South  City 
most  of  the  better  class  bathhouses  are  outside  Ch'ien  Men, 
though  the  bathhouse  sign,  a  lighted  lantern  on  a  high  pole,  can 
be  seen  on  many  of  the  streets.  There  are,  of  course,  all  grades 
from  the  one  where  for  eight  coppers  or  less,  depending  upon 
how  many  men  have  been  ahead  of  him,  a  man  gets  a  bath  in  a 
big  public  tank  and  a  chance  to  rest  for  a  while  on  one  of  the 
board  couches  around  the  room,  to  the  very  finest  equipped  with 
porcelain  tubs  and  modern  plumbing,  where  for  $i  or  $2  a  man 
is  given  a  two-roomed,  steam-heated,  linoleum-floored  suite  of 
bathroom  and  rest  room,  with  comfortable  couch,  electric  light 
and  private  telephone.  In  some  of  the  bathhouses,  when  the 
weather  is  warm,  the  courtyard  will  be  filled  with  loungers  re- 
clining in  their  bathrobes,  smoking  and  conversing  or  reading. 
The  finest  of  all  the  bathhouses  is  a  three-story  building  with  a 
beautiful  green  and  yellow  tile  front,  and  a  courtyard  with  gravel 
walks,  trees  and  flowers.  The  heating  plant  alone  is  said  to  have 
cost  $4,000.  For  women  there  is  only  one  bathhouse. 

As  far  as  we  could  ascertain  the  bathhouses  are  all  run  in  a 
most  respectable  manner  and  there  seems  to  be  no  connection 
between  them  and  the  licensed  quarter. 

PROVINCIAL   HALLS 

The  Provincial  Gild  Halls  are  among  the  social  gathering 
/  places  in  Peking.  These  halls,  and  there  are  413  of  them,  all  but 
six  of  which  are  in  the  South  City,  were  built  during  the  Manchu 
Dynasty  so  that  the  natives  of  the  different  provinces  and  dis- 
tricts who  came  to  Peking  for  the  literary  examinations  might 
have  some  place  to  live  or  at  least  meet  their  fellow  provincials. 
Now  that  the  examinations  are  no  longer  given,  the  gild  halls 
are  used  as  clubhouses  for  those  who  come  from  the  provinces. 
Peking  has  so  many  officials,  expectant  officials,  students  and 
other  non-permanent  residents,  and  the  people  from  different 
sections  of  the  country  differ  so  widely  in  customs,  tastes  and 
even  language,  that  it  is  but  natural  that  these  provincial  halls 
should  hold  a  very  important  place  in  the  social  life  of  the  city, 
even  though  they  have  no  special  recreation  facilities.  The  gild 
,  halls,  some  of  which  are  very  fine  buildings,  also  serve  as  inns 


RECREATION  233 

or  hotels  for  their  provincials  and  are  housing  some  25,000 
people.  The  following  list  gives  the  number  of  gild  halls  built 
by  the  cities  and  districts  of  the  various  provinces. 

Anhuei    39      Kwangsi   7 

Chekiang 38      Kwangtung    36 

Chihli 12      Kweichow    7 

Fukien 24      Shansi  34 

Honan  14      Shantung    7 

Hunan  23      Shensi  and  Kansu 26 

Hupeh   26      Szechuan 15 

Kiangsi    69      Yunnan  9 

Kiangsu 27  — — 

Total  413 

HOTELS 

Because  of  the  large  transient  population  of  Peking,  there 
are  a  great  many  hotels  in  the  city,  and  several  large  new  ones, 
some  with  over  100  rooms,  are  being  built.  The  principal  hotel 
street  of  the  city  is  just  south  of  the  moat  between  the  North 
and  South  Cities,  running  west  from  Ch'ien  Men.  The  best  class 
Chinese  hotels  charge  $6  a  day  (European  plan)  for  their  rooms, 
the  middle  class  hotels  anywhere  from  40  cents  to  $1.20  and  the 
inns  even  less.  The  rooms  are  ordinarily  small  and  very  simply 
furnished  with  a  bed,  table  and  chair.  In  the  better  hotels  the 
beds  are  iron  with  wire  springs  covered  with  matting,  while  in 
the  cheaper  rooms  the  beds  are  wooden  frames  woven  across 
with  fiber  cords.  Few  if  any  of  the  hotels  supply  any  bedding 
for  their  guests,  as  in  China  practically  everybody  carries  his 
own  bedding  with  him.  In  many  of  the  rooms  the  ventilation  is 
far  from  good. 

The  Peking  hotels  do  not  ordinarily  have  public  dining  rooms ; 
meals,  if  desired,  are  served  in  the  guests'  rooms,  and  the  other 
social  features  common  in  western  hotels,  reading  rooms,  writ- 
ing rooms,  dance  halls,  parlors  and  large  porches,  are  usually 
lacking.  There  seems  to  be  a  minimum  of  social  features  con- 
nected with  the  Peking  hotel  life. 

The  police  keep  a  very  careful  check  on  all  the  hotels  and 
have  issued  very  strict  and  comprehensive  regulations  for  them.1 
No  one  is  allowed  to  open  a  hotel  unless  he  is  guaranteed  and 
the  police  find  that  he  has  a  good  moral  character.  All  hotel 
buildings  must  be  inspected  for  general  construction,  the  location 
of  chimneys  and  fireplaces  and  fire  escapes.  Guests  are  not 
allowed  to  bring  prostitutes  into  the  hotel,  to  gamble  or  sing  and 
make  unnecessary  noise.  The  proprietors  are  required  to  report 
to  the  police  any  violation  of  the  police  rules  for  guests,  any 

1  Police  Hotel  Regulations. 


234  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

change  in  employees,  any  persons  carrying  firearms,  the  pres- 
ence of  those  suspected  of  kidnaping  women  or  children,  any 
women  suspected  of  eloping,  any  foreigners  who  stay  in  the 
hotel  and  any  guests  suffering  from  contagious  diseases.  First 
class  hotels  must  close  by  I  A.M.,  second  class  hotels  by  n  P.M., 
and  rooming  houses  by  9  P.M.  Violation  of  the  police  rules  may 
mean  a  fine  of  anywhere  from  10  cents  to  $50,  imprisonment  of 
from  3  to  35  days  or  even  suspension  of  the  hotel  license. 

In  spite  of  the  regulations  we  are  told  that  many  of  the  hotels 
are  frequented  by  clandestine  and  even  registered  prostitutes. 

MODERN    TYPES   OF  AMUSEMENT 

Since  about  1905  there  has  been  a  gradual  increase  in  the 
opportunities  for  recreation  and  amusement  of  a  western  nature. 
Among  those  which  should  be  particularly  noted  are  billiard  and 
pool  rooms,  moving  picture  halls,  public  parks,  recreation  centers 
and  modern  athletics. 

POOL  AND   BILLIARDS 

Before  1908  there  were  few  if  any  billiard  halls  in  Peking. 
Now  there  are  17  with  79  tables.  Most  of  them  are  located  in 
the  South  City.  Ordinarily  the  halls  are  open  from  10  o'clock 
in  the  morning  until  midnight,  though  some  do  not  close  until 
2,  A.  M.,  most  of  their  patrons  arriving  about  midnight.  The 
charges  for  billiards  are  uniform,  20  cents  small  money  a  game. 
One  of  the  largest  halls  reported  that  it  took  in  $20  a  day  from 
each  of  its  tables,  others  receive  $10  a  day,  while  one  with  three 
or  four  tables  receives  $3  to  $4  from  each.  The  most  popular 
billiard  halls  are  the  Hui  Hsien  at  the  Tung  An  Market  and 
Chung  Hsing  in  the  South  City. 

Our  investigators  report  that  many  of  the  players  stay  two 
or  three  hours,  and  some  four  hours  at  a  time,  in  the  billiard 
halls.  As  a  rule  the  number  of  idlers  looking  on  is  very  small. 
There  seems  to  be  very  little  drinking  or  gambling  in  the  billiard 
halls,  and  though  there  is  nothing  to  prohibit  prostitutes  from 
visiting  them,  very  few  do  so. 

Because  the  business  is  so  new,  no  gild  was  organized  until 
1918.  The  preamble  of  the  gild  rules  says,  "Because  of  com- 
petition some  of  the  billiard  rooms  adopted  a  policy  that  yielded 
them  big  returns,  but  they  did  not  pay  any  attention  to  the  inter- 
ests of  others  in  the  same  business."  Prices  varied  considerably 
and  special  prizes  and  reductions  were  offered.  Since  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  gild  the  prices  have  been  standardized  and  no 
prizes,  presents,  cigarettes  or  wine  can  be  offered  to  the  players. 


RECREATION  235 

Any  one  breaking  the  rules  will  be  fined  $10  and  will  be  dealt 
with  by  the  gild  if  the- fine  is  not  paid.  Each  billiard  hall  pays 
$i  to  the  gild  for  general  expenses.  Meetings  are  held  on  the 
festival  days,  New  Year's,  the  5th  of  the  5th  moon  and  the  I5th 
of  the  8th  moon,  at  which  time  a  new  manager  is  elected  to  take 
charge  of  the  affairs  of  the  gild. 

Three  of  the  billiard  halls  also  have  bowling  alleys,  which 
seem  to  'attract  a  large  number  of  spectators  as  well  as  players. 
The  regulation  charge  is  10  cents  a  game. 

MOVING   PICTURES 

Moving  picture  theaters  have  also  come  but  recently  to 
Peking,  the  first  being  opened  in  1909.  However,  they  have 
become  very  popular  with  the  Chinese,  the  average  attendance  at 
all  the  theaters  being  approximately  3,000,  and  that  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  all  the  pictures  are  made  in  western  countries,  de- 
pict occidental  life,  and  few  if  any  of  the  captions  are  in  Chinese. 
The  number  of  first  class  films  obtainable  is  very  small. 

There  are  now  six  theaters  in  which  moving  pictures  are 
shown.  The  most  expensive  of  these  is  the  Peking  Pavilion 
(P'ing  An  Tien  Ying)  on  East  Ch'ang  An  Chieh.  This  theater 
is  run  by  a  British  subject,  principally  for  foreigners,  but  a  large 
number  of  Chinese  attend.  Performances  are  given  every  eve- 
ning from  9:15  to  12,  and  on  Wednesday  and  Saturday  after- 
noons. Admission  fees  range  from  60  cents  to  $1.50.  The 
average  attendance  is  about  200.  Ordinarily  good  pictures  are 
shown,  but  the  cheaper  varieties  of  comedy  are  often  included. 

The  Ta  Kuan  Lou  is  on  Ta  Cha  Lan,  one  of  the  busiest 
streets  in  the  South  City.  Pictures  are  shown  from  8 130  to  12, 
and  the  charges  for  tickets  are  12,  24,  50  and  80  coppers.  The 
daily  receipts  average  from  $50  to  $70,  the  average  attendance 
being  250. 

The  Hua  An  Moving  Picture  Hall  is  on  Kuan  Hsing  Yuan, 
outside  of  Ha  Ta  Men.  It  charges  only  6  and  8  coppers  a  person, 
and  with  an  average  attendance  of  about  300  people  takes  in  only 
some  $20  a  day. 

The  South  City  Amusement  Park  in  the  grounds  of  the  Tem- 
ple of  Agriculture  and  the  New  World  show  moving  pictures, 
the  former  from  8  to  12  and  the  latter  at  3  in  the  afternoon  and 
from  9  on  in  the  evening.  During  the  summer  the  pictures  are 
shown  out  doors  in  the  Amusement  Park  and  on  the  roof  of  the 
New  World.  No  special  charge  is  made  for  the  pictures,  as  the 
general  admission  ticket  covers  practically  all  the  entertainments 
in  both  places. 

Moving  pictures  are  also  shown  at  the  Young  Men's  Christian 


J'KKJM,:    A    SOCIAL 


Av-,o<  jaiion  hinl'lin^  evffy  'I  hu/  ','  <lly  at 

the  Hua  An  'J  I  '  at-  j  •  ,          '  \u  I  .an  and  '  •   '        Hftatig  xutt 

in  1  1  ic  Tuti£  An  01   i  i-'  t. 

All  f  picture  1  •    h<     h"  ;,•-,"]  by  the,  poh'f  an'] 

pay  a  monthly  tax  of  $60  ;<n<)  an  </tia  payment  oi  ';  '/;  a  month 
for  poh<  <•  ',<•»  vi<  <•. 

'I  hioii^hout  all  of  China  there  in  a  tremendous  ne<-<J  for   ;L 
better  claas  of  IM-S.    M;UJ/  of  ih«  pio'lu-  •  i     ••  n<l  only 

their  poorer  or  very  oM  f/lnr  io  i  i  ,  .-nd  ilx-  j,i'  HIM-  ih«-y 

give  of  American  and  Kinoj/'.m  hi*-  ]••.  \-.\\    \\',\n  \\-.\\\*  nnj;  ;\--, 
v/'-ll  a«  far  from  true,     J'I;M  ii'.-illy  no  r<Jn<;jtion;il  j^i'  lures  are 
.n  i  ,  I,-  ing  made  '>n  ilc  prohirm  ai  th«-  ARM  rfc  .-«n 

Mijnity  Motion   Picttir«  ,j/<  t;ihon  with 

•  n\  f   hriftittl   A    '  o'  j.-ttion,  pl.-ju--,  tr>  in-.tilnl'    ;•  •  :un 
tluoiivhoiit    .'.'o/tli   (  hin;i    foi    tlj'-  divM-iiiin.'it  ion   of    crluca 
ljon;il   j/)'tiiM-s.      Work  ha->  .-iln-.-io1/   h'i'iin   on    lOttK    hlnr,  th;il    tfl 
beinjf  ni.'io1*-   v/iili   thl     peCWll   piohl*  nr,  ol   Mun;i  in  /nni'l  ;jjj'l   7/itli 
r  ;,|;lion  .   in   ihr  <   hue    '    l.-.n-Ml.-.rM-. 

I')-  M    ;.!•  -,   h;r/«    Io   i  ;ht    on   ll  -  ',o  th;il 

they  will  lend  b«-ttM    picture    to   <  hin.-i,   p;nli'  nl;nly    those    that 

arc  more  suited  to  the  Chinese  ih.-m  Arc  many  of  tho  -.»•  now 
shown. 

I'l.'I'.Ui 

In  the  past  there  has  bc<  n  not  h  in;'  m  r.  king  corresponding  to 

tin-   pnhh'    p.  !.•!    M  •  M     IM,I.   .  .  h!.  i      -,\     ..<      •  .  i,   -  ill.  -.        l';il;j<  r- 

gardens  and  hunting  parks  have  ;ifioi'i"l  amusenj*  -nt    \<,\   »h< 

nohility,   flic   w<-;ilthy    I  I    |;U;M-   (ouMy.iMl      in    ihm    lioiu»->, 

hut  then  h.-v<?  been  HOIM   i<>i  th«  common  people,    \>*-\:\\\\\  now 
p.-nl<s  innide  th<-  wall-^  ;m<l  on<   ju  i  oui  n|r  t  t  ,  ni,.,| 
Park,  the  grouii'i-.  oi  tin-  Temple  of  Agricultun  .n,.i  tin   , 
cultural  iCx|>criment  Stttiofl 

(  l-./.-ll/AK    I'AKK 

Central  Par!  ,     h.-  h  lies  just  to  \\  ••  Icfl  of  the  central  gat<-  of 

Ihr    I'orhi'NN  n    <   ily    aixl    •  o  an  a    ol       •  hall    .,    vjiiair 

mile.  wa«  optficd  in  19IJ  in  ivbtl  usfd  to  h«  parl  «*i  ih«-  im 

I  IM    promotion  oi  tl  01  fginally  m  the  liand-. 

ol    a      lo<K    «oju|)any,    jiioniiiM  nl    aiiion:',    I  h<     fliri'C'toi'H    ol     whl<  h 

were  (  IHI  'I  /\\  TUfl,  tii(    Mmr.iri  oi  MM-   Interior,  .'in*  I   i-iani-. 

Yung  'J*'ao,   a    wcllknown    pliilanihi«»|(i  i        'Io    ihr    oM    «. 

trees,  9pw(  •  btdi  ,    torv    :•  ind  iltai  to  the  Gods  <>f  tin- 

Five  Grains,  it    wa     |,|.HHI<  «l   Io  .i-M  a    LIIJM-   mUl  i'    hall,  a    MM  ..h  i, 

.,n     ,,ll     K  [)00l     -"i'l     .1     <|.HM  in;'     .,'  .I'lriny         'I  I,.,    .      fh.,1     I,  ,  ..      h-  .  n 
roitlplftrd   in-  In-  1'      i    i  r<  i  rat  ion  '  hih   With   hilh.it  <l   t.ihl<    ,  .u,.|   hum. 


HKCIU    \  I'lON 

bovrt,  wvt  >•>(  large  iwt..m..nts,  a  large  number  of  tea  homed,  a 
library,    several    photograpli    galleries   a   book*tore,   a   mnall 

',    I  If    .111.1     .1     ! 
Ill        |Ml.      i.|     III,      ...dm 

.1    (III)     ;.•.•    10    III.     pail     -l.ii  mi'    lln     •  IIIMIII,  i         In    Id,     u  ml.  . 
ll.c     I,IIMI|M   i      I.  ,11        In      i  HI          \\   I.,  ii     MM  I,      .u<       I,  •  ll\  ..I       ... 

I     in,  .  Ini!"     .nliiii       loll    l«.    lli«      |i.H  I      i       n    n.i!l\      I  i,  .       .u,.|    ..ii 

i.i'    i,  .  ,  ..  *  ,  \\  iii  ,,n,  n  .,n<  n,  i    In  1015  when  •  meeting  wai 

In  M   In   I.K.I.     I    ..-..in    I    llu      I  u  «  ill  \    <  Mi.     hini.iii.l     ill    llh      l.ip.iiu  •-.<  , 

I'Ciij.lc     \\clc     III     lilt       |..lll-      .-II     « 

I    I  .....  i:    ili.il      I  .   :-lll.ihi.n-     '|ol  I.  ...I.      III.         ,    Ilin:'  ..I      li.|ii..i      Hi     |||c 

I'.  II  I    .      l'Hl      (lie      I  lll«        I         n,.    'Idll^i    I      «   III.  .....  I.      ..n.  I  III      1C.  <   |||       \  .  .11  ' 

i  ..III  Ii      .Hi        li.,\  c     l.i  •  II     II     Mi:'     ll.«       p.ll  I       in..  I,      .ui.l  HUH  •      Ill     I  ill  llici 

MM  n    l.ii   in  «  • 

Although  (  <  nil..  I  I'.nl-   I...-    in.  i  li.i.l  MM    «  .In.  ..n..  n  ..I  mum 

lli.il  il-  I.  .tin,  I.  i  ll(i|H  .1  fin  il  I...  h.i.l  ..  \\  li,.l<  •  ..mi  mil.  i.  n,  «  ..i, 
ill.  h\  .  nl  m.ili\  ..I  MM  |,<  Opl<  ,  ..I..I  in  |.||.  Ml  II,.  ...Inn  UUI  I-  ' 
tin  in  In  •  .1  l.n  .illim:-  |i.i.  <  ,1m  in:'  lli«  (ml  •  iiinm.  i  111,  .nil.  I  i 

i   II'  i       .1     ••  <.ii,|<  i  I  ill    IK  M     l.n     .1    li.niMil     K>n.ilii.ii.il    (   ••  j  •   i  i 
llic  (  ,ov<  i  HUM  nl    -ii-    Mi'    .i.l'  .ml.  ISM    nl      ii,  I.  .1   n  i.  in 


A«  .  l<  l<    t    l.ll'  HI'". 

The  grounds  of  the  Tn,,|,i,     i       rfc  »lture  containing  »ome 

lw«.  -.«|ii.in    null      .in    IM.V    i,|.i  n  I.,  tin    p.,  Mi.      I,  nl   ./nl  ..... 

of  an  admission  fct*  ui    10  i-cnih.     AsicU*  hoin  the-  furl  that  it  i^ 

•in  «.pcn  apacr  wtth  -"me  trees  .m«i  «  ontaini  ••',  .,1,1  i.  n.j.i.  .....i  i 

Hill     «    Mill       V  .III.      ()|(|       |)|OII/I  ;il|i|      •   III   III     .       II,.    II        I          hill.        It)      ..Ih.M    I 

ill'     |.«  i,  pic         It     I       ijlllli     .,     |i,n:<     ••  .,',     I  n.  in    ll,. 

nil    lh:il    h:iv    IM  .  n    dJMU     tO    ''       •'    "I'    '      hl    l'"l|(|    •'    l''W    JrMl.nu   .n! 
:in<l  l<  ;i   i«/«/n.-.  .in<l  put    in  •.,  in<    IICIH  In  - 

III  '  IM  ii     EXPRBIMBNT  ftTATIOM 

iltural     I'     pci  HIM  ni     '  i.ih«.i>,    Jo-  :i!«  -I     .il.oni     twn 
"»    I   M,I|<    OUl    "l«    «-i    I  I    i   <    In).    .".I.  n,   -|H,II|.|   .,l    u   I-     IIH  Iml.  -I 

•"'".),:'  ii,<   j,  iii,  iii   |,.,ii      i,,  i  ii-  f.ii'iciif  are  open  i«.  ii-   I.HI.IL 
from  'i  in  ihc  morning  in  10  .,1  ni^hi  n  m«  i.«  «.i  .ni  .nhui 

fn  D!  16  eoppi  -    foi  -"lull-  md  B  copper*  i«.»  •  hlldren 

.....  '    •:          •    •' 
.;</;  on    '   nn.|;,y. 

Tht  if  »,,..  ni  Station  wa«  started  in  1907  on  an  area  of 

kill   -<|n  -M|<  n-   v.ill.  .  I    ll«iw«  i:-, 

M.I-    ;.)..!    p!:n  !,..  i,    ,],  v<  loped  '  'I    '" 

the  i  anothei  >'>  various  ^  ratoj 

;in,j  0,|M.,    },;,,,-  ....    .,!-,,  f:.ov.n       A  n.n.v  uiij 


238  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

with  an  exhibition  of  agricultural  implements  and  products,  vari- 
ous injurious  insects  and  different  kinds  of  wild  animals  has  been 
opened  and  there  is  a  small  zoological  garden  with  a  collection  of 
birds,  reptiles  and  animals.  This  latter  was  particularly  well 
stocked  during  the  last  days  of  the  Empire,  as  many  animals 
were  presented  to  the  Empress  Dowager,  but  many  of  the  animals 
have  since  died.  The  grounds  of  the  park  have  been  beautified 
by  numerous  small  pagodas,  fountains  and  monuments.  Tea 
houses  can  be  rented  for  dinner  parties  or  picnics,  $i.2O~$i.5O  for 
a  day,  80  cents-$i  for  a  half-day. 

There  is  a  small  stream  near  the  gardens  and  on  it  are  numer- 
ous boats  that  are  rented  by  pleasure  seekers.  The  charge  for  a 
large  boat  is  $8  a  day  and  for  a  smaller  boat  $2-$4.  Some  small 
boats  can  be  rented  for  100  coppers  (75  cents)  a  day,  while  20 
cents  is  charged  for  a  short  ride. 

Peking  has  a  great  many  open  places,  many  of  them  govern- 
ment property,  that  might  be  used  for  public  recreation  centers  if 
only  the  Government  will  see  the  need  before  it  is  too  late  and 
will  work  out  some  plan  that  will  make  them  available  for  those 
who  cannot  afford  to  pay  even  the  present  admission  fee  of  10 
cents. 

RECREATION    CENTERS 

The  New  World 

The  New  World,  a  big  four-story  concrete  building,  a  sort  of 
miniature  "Coney  Island"  or  "White  City,"  was  built  just  north 
of  the  Temple  of  Agriculture  in  1916.  This  center  offers,  for  a 
single  admission  fee  of  30  coppers  (15  coppers  for  children),  a 
number  of  amusements.  There  are  two  large  theaters,  in  which 
old  and  new  style  plays  are  given,  two  or  three  smaller  theaters 
where  the  crowd  is  entertained  by  singing  girls  or  story-tellers; 
in  the  large  open  courtyard  acrobats  and  boxers  give  their  per- 
formances, moving  pictures  are  shown  during  the  afternoon  and 
again  in  the  evening.  Besides  these  there  are  restaurants  serving 
Chinese  and  foreign  food,  tea  rooms,  billiard  and  pool  halls,  a 
laughing  gallery  with  convex  and  concave  mirrors  and  penny 
slot-machines  showing  pictures  of  various  sorts.  A  number  of 
these  pictures  were  of  a  rather  coarse  nature,  but  none  of  them 
could  be  called  immoral. 

Besides  the  regular  3O-cent  admission  tickets,  foreign  meal 
tickets  admitting  the  holder  to  all  the  entertainments  and  entitling 
him  to  a  foreign  meal  are  sold  for  $i.  Chinese  meal  tickets  cost 
50  cents  and  monthly  admission  tickets  $5. 

The  New  World  is  open  from  n  in  the  morning  to  12  at 
night.  The  average  number  of  visitors  is  said  to  be  2,000,  on 


RECREATION  239 

Saturdays  and  Sundays,  4,000.  Recently,  however,  after  the  open- 
ing of  the  South  City  Amusement  Park  the  number  has  been 
reduced  to  about  1,000  a  day. 

We  are  told  by  those  capable  of  judging  that  the  effect  of  this 
amusement  center  is  undoubtedly  evil.  Many  of  the  plays  and 
entertainments  are  of  a  coarse  and  sometimes  immoral  nature 
and  the  women  of  the  near-by  segregated  district  use  it  as  a  place 
of  advertisement,  mingling  with  the  crowd  or  appearing  on  the 
stage. 

The  South  City  Amusement  Park 

The  South  City  Amusement  Park,  a  large  group  of  single- 
story  concrete  buildings  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  Temple  of 
Agriculture,  is  practically  a  duplicate  of  the  New  World  in  its 
amusements  with  moving  pictures,  theaters — one  of  them  giving 
plays  in  the  Shanghai  dialect — restaurants,  etc.  It  was  opened 
in  1918  largely  because  of  the  success  of  the  New  World  and  it 
is  very  evident  that  the  newer,  more  open  resort  is  drawing  the 
crowd.  Its  average  attendance  is  4,000,  with  6,000  on  Saturdays 
and  Sundays.  Its  hours  are  from  n  to  n.  The  admission  fee 
is  30  cents. 

Most  of  those  who  visit  these  parks  belong  to  the  student, 
merchant  and  official  classes.  Very  few  laborers  come,  largely 
because  of  the  size  of  the  admission  fee.  Women  are  coming  to 
the  parks  more  and  more,  in  groups  or  with  men,  and  it  is  not  at 
all  unusual  to  see  an  entire  Chinese  family  out  to  enjoy  an 
evening. 

MODERN   ATHLETICS 

Modern  athletics,  with  track,  baseball,  volley  ball,  basketball, 
association  football,  tennis,  are  perhaps  the  most  wholesome  of 
the  modern  amusements  that  have  come  to  Peking.  Strange  as 
it  may  seem  it  has  been  the  students,  the  successors  of  the  class 
who  were  by  tradition  and  training  opposed  to  any  unseemly  or 
undignified  relaxation  in  hearty  physical  exercise  or  sport,  who 
have  taken  up  athletics. 

The  introduction  of  modern  athletics  into  North  China  is 
described  by  Mr.  L.  C.  Porter,  a  member  of  the  American  Board 
Mission,  and  for  many  years  in  charge  of  athletics  at  the  North 
China  Union  College,  as  follows : 

Interscholastic  athletic  contests  probably  began  in  North  China  in 
connection  with  the  two  Christian  institutions  for  higher  education,  the 
North  China  Union  College  at  T'ung  Hsien,  and  Peking  University  in 
Peking.  At  T'ung  Hsien  there  are  records  not  only  of  contests  betweer 
these  two  institutions,  but  between  one  of  them  and  the  Anglo-Chinese 
College,  of  Tientsin,  as  early  as  1904  or  1905.  Meanwhile,  in  Tientsin, 


240  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

with  the  beginning  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  work  there 
was  much  encouragement  given  to  athletic  activities.  With  the  establish- 
ment of  the  P'u  Tung  Middle  School  for  boys  by  the  Association,  a 
group  of  students  was  secured  with  whom  the  Association  secretaries 
interested  in  physical  training  could  work.  Under  the  auspices  of  the 
Tientsin  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  contests  for  the  schools  in 
and  around  Tientsin  were  inaugurated.  In  the  autumn  of  1909,  for  the 
first  time,  institutions  from  outside  of  Tientsin  were  admitted  to  the 
Tientsin  Interscholastic  Meet,  North  China  Union  College  sending  a  team 
that  secured  second  place.  The  next  year  Peking  University,  as  well  as 
North  China  Union  College,  was  represented  in  the  Tientsin  meet,  and  a 
team  was  also  sent  from  the  T'angshan  Engineering  College.  In  this 
meet  the  team  of  the  North  China  Union  College  won  the  first  place, 
somewhat  to  the  surprise  of  the  Tientsin  schools,  which  had  hitherto  re- 
garded themselves  as  superior  in  athletic  lines  to  anything  in  North  China. 

With  the  establishment  of  the  American  Indemnity  College  (1910), 
another  group  of  advanced  students  came  to  Peking,  and  steps  were 
taken  to  organize  an  athletic  association,  to  include  the  American  In- 
demnity College,  North  China  Union  College,  and  Peking  University, 
with  contests  on  the  track  and  field,  in  football  and  tennis,  and  occasional 
contests  in  baseball.  The  Peking  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  had 
its  physical  director  but  it  seemed  wise,  however,  for  the  different  schools 
and  athletic  clubs  in  and  around  Peking,  including  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  to  organize  an  athletic  association  with  officers  and 
central  committee  to  manage  and  conduct  interscholastic  athletic  contests. 
General  L.  Chang,  well  known  for  his  activity  in  the  anti-opium  move- 
ment, was  one  of  the  most  faithful  supporters  of  the  Peking  Athletic 
Association  movement.  Preliminary  discussions  took  place  at  a  meeting 
in  Peking  University  of  the  representatives  of  the  American  Indemnity 
College,  North  China  Union  College,  Peking  University,  and  some  Chinese 
athletic  clubs.  At  later  meetings  a  constitution  was  prepared  and  the 
Peking  Athletic  Association  established.  These  meetings  took  place  prob- 
ably in  the  winter  of  1913-14.  At  any  rate,  the  Peking  Athletic  Associa- 
tion was  a  vigorous  institution  in  the  spring  of  1914  with  Mr.  A.  N. 
Hoagland,  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  acting  as  one  of  the 
general  secretaries  of  the  association. 

Mr.  Hoagland  and  his  committee  arranged  the  first  North  China 
championship  games  in  1914..  With  their  establishment,  interscholastic 
games  became  once  more  a  purely  local  affair.  In  Tientsin,  Nan  K'ai 
College,  the  Government  Middle  School,  and  Tientsin  Anglo-Chinese 
College  were  the  chief  competitors,  Peking  having  its  own  association 
and  its  own  local  contests.  This  made  it  possible  for  other  teams  than 
the  ones  in  the  old  triangular  meet  to  compete.  In  the  spring  of  1914 
the  Peking  association  invited  to  its  contest  representatives  from  all  the 
institutions  in  Chihli  Province  and  North  China  that  were  interested  in 
athletics,  so  that  the  association's  contest  became  a  truly  sectional  contest. 
Following  these  games,  the  North  China  Athletic  Association  was  organ- 
ized, and  since  that  year  has  managed  the  North  China  meets,  these 
contests  being  held  in  the  various  cities,  Tientsin,  Peking,  Paotingfu,  and 
even  T'ai  Yuan  Fu.  The  same  year,  1914,  and  only  a  few  days  after  the 
North  China  sectional  contest,  the  first  all-China  athletic  contest  was  held. 
These  games,  in  which  representative  teams  from  East  and  Central  China 
competed  with  the  winners  of  the  North  China  games,  were  held  on  the 
track  in  the  Temple  of  Heaven  grounds,  built  by  the  Peking  association 
for  its  own  games.  It  was  possible  to  have  a  national  contest  because 
of  the  interest  that  had  been  aroused  in  other  parts  of  the  country  by 
the  plans  for  an  international  Far-Eastern  Championship  Contest,  an 


RECREATION 

invitation  having  come  from  the  management  of  the  1913  Manila  carnival 
to  Japanese  and  Chinese  athletes  to  compete  with  the  Filipinos.  The 
second  Far-Eastern  Championship  games  were  planned  for  1915,  and  the 
national  games  of  1914  were  held  in  anticipation  of  that  contest  in  order 
to  pick  the  all-China  team  by  competition  rather  than  on  the  basis  of 
competitive  records. 

After  the  organization  of  the  North  China  Athletic  Association,  the 
Peking  Athletic  Association  languished  somewhat  as  it  could  only  con- 
duct an  autumn  contest  for  novices,  the  schools  and  athletic  clubs  finding 
it  too  heavy  a  strain  to  enter  a  Peking  contest  and  the  annual  sectional 
spring  games.  However,  during  the  last  few  years  the  Peking  Athletic 
Association  has  come  to  life  again,  this  time  under  the  leadership  of  the 
Chinese,  especially  those  connected  with  government  and  private  schools. 
This  year  the  Association  has  conducted  a  football  and  basket  ball 
league,  with  both  a  senior  and  a  junior  section,  so  that  colleges,  univer- 
sities and  middle  schools  have  been  provided  with  opportunities  for  con- 
test. In  spite  of  the  interruption  due  to  the  student  excitement  and 
demonstrations  over  the  political  situation,  the  league  contests  have  been 
carried  out  and  the  winner  will  be  announced  ere  long.  While  the  for- 
eigners who  are  interested  in  athletics,  particularly  those  connected  with 
the  Christian  institutions  and  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  give 
loyal  support  to  the  North  China  sectional  gajnes  and  help  effectively 
in  the  conduct  of  the  same,  the  management  of  the  games  and  the 
decisions  relating  to  them  may  fairly  be  said  to  be  entirely  in  Chinese 
hands. 

ATHLETIC    CLUBS 

As  a  result  of  the  introduction  of  modern  athletics  the  Ath- 
letic Club  is  beginning  to  find  a  place  in  Peking. 

The  International  Recreation  Club,  founded  in  1909  and  in- 
cluding in  its  membership  seven  nationalities,  has  proved  with 
its  tennis  court  and  skating  rink  a  social  as  well  as  an  athletic 
center  for  both  Chinese  and  foreigners.  At  present  (1920),  the 
membership  of  the  club  is  only  fifty,  having  fallen  off  very  de- 
cidedly because  the  club  has  had  to  give  up  its  headquarters  on 
the  grounds  of  the  old  examination  halls. 

The  Peking  Athletic  Club,  a  non-religious,  non-political  or- 
ganization with  headquarters  at  the  Public  Continuation  School 
in  the  West  City,  has  been  organized  to  promote  athletics  in 
Peking.  Any  Chinese  over  16  years  of  age  who  has  had  a  good 
education  and  is  willing  to  pay  the  annual  dues  of  $2  is  eligible 
for  membership  if  recommended  by  two  members. 

The  establishment  of  a  school  of  physical  education  has  been 
the  principal  work  of  the  club.  The  general  course  requires  one 
year's  study  three  hours  a  day  three  times  a  week  in  physiology, 
games,  athletic  drill,  the  use  of  apparatus  and  the  science  of 
physical  education.  The  school  was  opened  in  March,  1917,  and 
the  first  class  of  30  was  graduated  in  July,  1918.  The  1919 
class  numbers  20.  The  expenses  of  the  school,  $100  a  month,  are 
provided  by  the  Board  of  Education.  The  graduates  find  em- 
ployment as  physical  instructors  in  primary  or  middle  schools. 


CHAPTER  X 
THE  SOCIAL  EVIL 

The  social  evil  in  China  cannot  be  fairly  judged  from  west- 
ern standards.  The  terms  used  in  discussing  this  life  in  America 
and  Europe — red  light  district,  prostitute,  brothel — do  not  exactly 
describe  the  licensed  amusement  district  in  Peking,  the  Chinese 
singsong  girl  and  the  Chinese  house  of  prostitution. 

It  has  been  necessary  to  use  western  terminology  in  describing 
the  social  evil  in  Peking,  for  there  is  no  better  mode  of  ex- 
pression available,  but  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  paint  the 
background  of  Chinese  social  life  which  has  brought  about  a 
social  situation  different  in  many  respects  from  the  west.  The 
singsong  girls  of  the  Chinese  amusement  section  are  persons 
who  might  be  classified  all  the  way  from  the  lowest  type  of 
western  prostitute  to  certain  types  of  high  class  entertainers. 
The  Chinese  estimate  of  women,  the  Chinese  family  system,  the 
amusement  of  the  Chinese  and  many  other  considerations  give 
the  professional  woman  entertainer  in  China  a  place  for  which 
there  is  no  exact  equivalent  in  western  society. 

Considerable  material  has  been  collected  regarding  the  general 
system  prevailing  in  the  Chinese  licensed  quarter.  This  has  been 
based  on  information  gathered  from  interviews  with  doctors, 
missionaries,  Chinese  business  men,  officials,  etc.,  through  per- 
sonal observation  of  conditions  in  the  segregated  districts  and 
from  police  regulations  and  statistics.  It  has  been  impossible 
for  us,  however,  to  make  any  first  hand  study  of  the  lives  of  any 
of  the  individual  girls. 

CONDITIONS  THAT   FOSTER   PROSTITUTION 

i.  The  low  estimate  of  women  is  in  our  opinion  the  most 
fundamental  of  all  conditions  that  foster  prostitution.  Little  in 
the  sacred  writings  of  China,  so  rich  in  other  moral  teaching, 
encourages  a  high  estimate  of  young  women.  Older  women  are 
to  be  respected,  because  of  their  age  and  because  they  have  been 
the  mothers  of  sons.  Even  in  the  newest  twentieth  century 
Confucian  Society  this  low  estimate  prevails,  as  women  are  given 
no  place  in  the  public  religious  meetings  of  the  Society.  The 
rapidly  spreading  Renaissance,  or  New  Intellectual  Movement, 

242 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL  243 

among  the  younger  modern  Chinese  is,  however,  doing  much  to 
change  this  old  estimate  by  promoting  the  open  discussion  of 
"the  single  standard,"  equality  of  the  sexes  and  the  rights  of 
woman  as  a  person. 

2.  The  lack  of  wholesome  recreation  is  another  contributing 
cause  of  prostitution.     This  point  is  discussed  more  in  detail  in 
the  Chapter  on  Recreation. 

3.  Closely  connected  with  the  lack  of  recreation  is  the  ab- 
sence of  any  normal  social  relationships  between  young  men  and 
women  or  for  that  matter  between  older  men  and  women.     Be- 
fore a  young  man  is  married,  he  has  practically  no  opportunity 
of  associating  with  women  other  than  those  of  his  own  family ; 
he  has  few  chances,  as  in  western  lands,  to  talk  normally  with 
them,  and  when  he  is  married  his  bride  is  usually  a  young  woman 
with  whom  he  has  had  no  previous  acquaintance. 

4.  Home  conditions  are  not  usually  such  as  will  hold  the 
loyalty  and  interest  of  the  husband.  The  wife,  no  doubt,  is  re- 
garded in  many  cases  with  respect,  but  principally  because  she 
will  give  birth  to  sons.  A  home  founded  on  such  principles  has 
a  minimum  of  wholesome  social  life.  The  unattractiveness  of 
the  average  home,  the  confusion  and  discord  of  the  large  patriar- 
chal family,  the  wife's  lack  of  education,  the  somberness  and 
filth  found  in  many  homes — these  all  contribute  to  drive  the  hus- 
band to  other  places  for  his  amusement. 

5.  The  pressure  of  custom  and  the  environment  of  official 
life  lead  many  men  to  indulge  in  habits  which  they  would  not 
choose  normally.    A  prominent  Chinese  doctor  in  Peking,  in  dis- 
cussing the  subject,  made  this  statement :    "In  many  other  coun- 
tries gentlemen  are  compelled  to  behave  like  gentlemen.    In  China 
they  are  compelled  by  custom  to  behave  in  what  seems  to  be  an 
ungentlemanly  way."     Important  gatherings  are  often  held  in 
houses  of  prostitution  and  under  these  circumstances  it  is  easier 
to  give  way  to  impulse  than  to  lead  a  clean  life. 

6.  The  new  spirit  of  freedom  which  swept  the  country  after 
the  Republic  was  founded  in  1912,  and  which  has  showed  itself  so 
plainly  in  freer  social  relations  between  men  and  women,  has 
doubtless  been  responsible  for  the  increase  in  vice  among  young 
men  and  for  the  general  letting  down  of  standards.     When  one 
sees  so  many  of  the  old  standards  and  customs  being  shattered, 
it  is  easy  to  include  personal  morals  in  the  list  of  those  that  are 
to  be  abolished. 

7.  The  fact  that  63.5  percent  of  the  population  of  Peking  is 
male  and  that  so  many  men  are  away  from  home  and  living 
under  abnormal  conditions  is  one  of  the  principal  causes  for  the 
social  evil.     Many  of  the  students,  expectant  officials,  business 
men,  and  even  many  of  the  officials,  both  civil  and  military,  are 


244  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

unable  to  bring  their  families  to  Peking  because  of  economic 
reasons.  Without  home  influence,  many  of  them  living  in  poor 
surroundings,  working  long  hours  and  lacking  wholesome  recrea- 
tion, these  men  are  very  apt  to  give  way  to  the  temptations 
surrounding  them. 

8.  Fatigue  is  certainly  a  cause  for  the  coolies  and  unskilled 
laborers  frequenting  the  houses  of  ill  fame.     The  light,  social 
atmosphere,  warmth,  and  general  excitement  of  the  brothel  dis- 
trict is  most  appealing  to  them  after  long  and  exhausting  work 
only  too  often  accompanied  with  ill  treatment  and  a  lack  of 
sufficient  food. 

9.  The  lack  of  public  opinion  against  vice  and  the  prevailing 
accepted  standards  mean  that  those  who  indulge  do  not  meet  with 
any  social  censure0    A  prominent  Chinese  official  estimated  that 
"50  percent  of  the  people  in  Peking  would  feel  that  relations  with 
a  prostitute  were  wrong,  40  percent  would  consider  them  to  be 
part  of  the  ordinary  course  of  events,  10  percent  would  actively 
oppose  them."     He  added,  however,  that  "in  good  families,  not 
one  young  man  in  one  hundred  is  implicated." 

Opinions  from  leading  Chinese  regarding  the  state  of  public 
opinion  and  the  moral  standard  relative  to  the  social  evil  vary 
somewhat.  One  prominent  returned  student  in  educational  work 
said :  "There  are  almost  no  moral  standards  regarding  the  prac- 
tice." A  doctor,  also  a  returned  student,  in  high  official  position, 
said :  "The  moral  standards  of  the  Chinese  regarding  sex  ques- 
tions have  been  very  high.  Conditions  in  the  distant  country 
districts  to-day  are  very  much  the  same  as  they  were  5,000  years 
ago.  Where  western  civilization  has  not  reached,  moral  stand- 
ards are  high."  In  referring  to  customs  in  the  city,  however, 
another  Chinese  official  affirms:  "First-class  public  women  are 
not  considered  as  under  social  condemnation,  but  are  given  the 
honorable  name  of  chiao  shih,  or  'teacher/  Very  few  wives 
are  against  the  practice  to  the  point  of  strenuous  objection. 
Some  wives  even  entertain  these  better  class  prostitutes."  An- 
other Chinese  who  has  been  prominent  in  social  work  for  many 
years  has  made  the  statement  that  the  Chinese  at  present  have 
very  high  moral  standards  for  women  and  very  loose  standards 
for  .men. 

10.  The  fact  that  high  officials  have  had  many  concubines 
and  have  indulged  in  the  social  evil  has  paved  the  way  for  imita- 
tion by  the  masses.    At  present  one  of  the  most  serious  aspects 
of  the  whole  situation  is  the  fact  that  it  is  apparently  given 
official  sanction  by  many  of  the  highest  officials  in  China.     To 
patronize  a  high  class  public  house  or  to  be  able  to  purchase  a 
famous  girl  for  a  concubine  is  a  mark  of  distinction  in  Peking. 

11.  On  the  woman's  side,  economic  pressure  is  probably  the 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL  245 

principal  cause  for  prostitution.  Last  winter,  on  one  of  the 
principal  streets  of  Peking,  a  man  from  a  famine  district  was 
found  offering  his  5  or  6-year-old  daughter  for  sale.  This,  of 
course,  seldom  occurs  openly,  for  it  is  forbidden  by  law  to  sell 
children  in  this  manner.  However,  there  is  little  doubt  but  that 
a  large  number  of  the  prostitutes  in  Peking  are  women  who,  in 
their  youth,  were  turned  over  to  the  houses  of  prostitution  be- 
cause of  their  family's  lack  of  funds. 

12.  In  this  connection  the  low  value  of  women  should  again 
be  noted.    Girl  babies  are  often  not  welcomed,  and  disposing  of 
the  girls  in  order  to  better  support  the  boys  is  perhaps  not  as  great 
a  sacrifice  to  many  persons  in  China  as  it  would  be  in  the  west. 

13.  Whether  or  not  women  are  driven  into  prostitution  by 
the  monotony,  drudgery,  and  seclusion  of  ordinary  home  life  we 
do  not  know.    Certainly,  while  it  lasts,  the  life  of  the  higher  class 
prostitute  is  exciting  and  full  of  interest.    Then,  too,  the  pros- 
titute of  the  higher  grade  always  has  the  hope  that  she  may 
capture  the  affections  of  some  high  official  or  wealthy  merchant, 
become  his  secondary  wife  and  consequently  have  a  social  posi- 
tion considerably  above  that  of  her  family. 


DEVELOPMENT   OF   PROSTITUTION   IN    PEKING 

Prostitution  has  existed  in  court  circles  in  Peking  for  cen- 
turies. Even  in  the  time  of  Marco  Polo  there  were  large  numbers 
of  women  of  ill  fame  connected  with  the  court.  Among  the 
people  generally,  however,  vice  had  to  be  carried  on  under  cover, 
and  was  limited  and  unorganized.  The  population,  as  a  whole, 
was  remarkably  free  from  the  evil.  Public  opinion  looked  down 
upon  it  and  women  were  severely  punished  for  adultery,  often 
with  the  death  penalty. 

Opinions  differ  as  to  the  general  prevalence  of  prostitution 
just  previous  to  the  Revolution  of  1911.  The  army  certainly  had 
its  camp  followers  and  we  were  told  by  an  old  resident  of  Peking 
that,  as  far  back  as  he  can  remember,  women  were  rented  out  to 
the  teamsters  who  came  in  from  the  country  for  a  few  days' 
stay.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  dual  standard  of  morality 
has  existed  from  days  of  old.  Men  have  had  a  degree  of  free- 
dom from  social  condemnation,  while  the  death  penalty  might  be 
inflicted  upon  wives  and  unmarried  women  guilty  of  improper 
relations. 

It  is  admitted  by  every  one  that  prostitution  has  greatly  in- 
creased in  Peking  since  1911.  There  is  disagreement  as  to  the 
causes  of  this  increase.  We  are  inclined  to  doubt  the  opinion  of 
a  prominent  official  in  Peking  that  it  is  entirely  the  direct  result 


246  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

of  western  influence.  Referring  to  the  great  increase  of  venereal 
diseases,  he  called  the  extension  of  the  social  evil  the  process  of 
the  "syphilization"  of  China.  It  certainly  is  true,  however,  that 
the  increase  of  prostitution  in  the  foreign  concessions  of  the  port 
cities  as  witnessed  by  the  tremendous  increase  in  the  number  of 
immoral  foreign  women  in  these  concessions,  most  of  whom  are 
Japanese,  has  had  a  real  effect  upon  the  Chinese  during  the  past 
twenty  years. 

The  adoption  by  Japan  of  the  licensed  system  of  the  west  has 
also  probably  helped  to  influence  Chinese  officials  to  adopt  the 
same  system  in  China,  but  we  cannot  say  that  the  west  is  wholly 
responsible  for  age-long  conditions  or  entirely  responsible  for  the 
recent  increase  of  vice.  The  break-up  of  the  old,  fixed  systems 
of  government,  education,  and  social  custom  has  brought  with  it 
inevitably,  as  did  the  American  and  French  Revolutions,  con- 
ditions of  general  moral  laxity  and  a  mistaken  freedom. 

The  present  system  of  licensed  prostitution  was  inaugurated 
by  Yuan  Shih  K'ai  in  1911.  Certain  definite  districts  were  set 
aside  for  the  trade,  and  taxes  were  collected  from  the  brothels 
and  prostitutes  from  March,  1911. 

The  police  figures  show  that  in  1912  there  were  353  brothels 
and  2,996  registered  prostitutes  in  Peking,  and  that  by  1917  the 
numbers  had  risen  to  406  and  3,887,  respectively. 

Legalized  houses  of  sodomy  used  principally  by  the  decadent 
Manchu  nobility  were  conducted  in  Peking  prior  to  the  Revolution 
in  1911,  but  since  then  have  been  abolished. 


PRESENT  EXTENT   OF   PROSTITUTION   IN   PEKING 

At  present  there  are  three  large  segregated  districts  in  the 
city — one  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  South  City,  a  place  of 
third  and  fourth  class  houses ;  one  not  far  south  of  Ch'ien  Men, 
to  the  east  of  the  main  street;  and  the  famous  Eight  Lanes, 
farther  to  the  south  and  west.  The  last  two  contain,  for  the 
most  part,  first  and  second  class  houses. 

According  to  the  latest  police  figures  (1919)  there  are  377 
brothels  and  3,130  licensed  prostitutes  in  these  three  sections,  or 
8  percent  more  brothels  and  5  percent  more  prostitutes  than  there 
were  in  1912.  Both  brothels  and  prostitutes  are  divided  into  four 
classes,  as  follows: 

Number  of  Number  of 

prostitutes  houses 

First   class 642")  76^) 

Second   class    743  L  TV.  100  L77 

Third    class    1,465  |3'I3°  178  |377 

Fourth  class  : 280 J  23) 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL 

Total  number  of  brothels  and  prostitutes  in  Peking. 

Number  of  Number  of 

Year                     prostitutes  houses 

1912  2,996  353 

1913  3,184  3^6 

1914  3,330  357 

1915  3,490  388 

1916  3*500  391 

1917  3,887  40<S 

February   1919  3J35  372 

It  is  reported  that  the  number  of  unlicensed  houses  known 
as  Pan  Kuan  Men  (half -closed  doors)  is  rapidly  increasing.  It 
is  known  that  numbers  of  such  houses  have  been  established  in 
certain  lanes  in  the  East  City  and  that  the  inmates  for  the  most 
part  are  Manchu  women.  The  actual  number  of  clandestine 
prostitutes  naturally  is  not  known,  but  on  a  conservative  estimate 
there  are  some  seven  thousand  in  the  city,  making  the  total 
number  of  prostitutes  in  Peking  10,000 — one  for  every  81  persons, 
or  one  woman  out  of  21.  This  compares  with  other  figures  for 
other  cities,  as  follows: 

Number  of  prostitutes  in  Peking  and  other  large  cities 

City  Number  of  inhabitants 

per  recognized  prostitute 

London    906 

Berlin 582 

Paris    481 

Chicago   437 

Japan   392 

Nagoya    3*4 

Tokio    277 

Peking   258 

Shanghai    137 

A  careful  investigation  of  the  foreign  houses  of  ill  fame  has 
not  been  made,  but  it  is  known  that  there  are  several  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  Tung  Tan  P'ailou  in  the  southeast  part  of  the 
North  City  and  that  most  of  the  women  are  Japanese.  West  of 
Ch'uan  Pan  Hut'ung  there  are  a  number  of  houses  in  which  there 
are  Russian,  French,  Austrian  and  other  European  women,  most 
of  whom  are  Jews.  These  places  and  some  with  Chinese  women 
that  cater  particularly  to  foreigners  are  largely  patronized  by  the 
soldiers  from  the  foreign  legation  guards.  The  existence  of 
these  houses  is  entirely  against  Chinese  law  and  it  is  only  because 
of  the  fact  that  the  police  are  afraid  to  interfere  with  them 
because  they  are  connected  with  foreigners  that  they  are  allowed 
to  exist  at  all. 

In  1918  a  large  number  of  buildings  especially  designed  for 


248  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

houses  of  prostitution  were  erected  by  the  Board  of  Police  direct- 
ly east  of  the  New  World,  their  purpose  being  to  move  many  of 
the  women  from  the  present  licensed  districts  to  this  section  of 
the  city.  However,  the  proprietors  of  the  houses  objected  to 
moving,  being  very  well  satisfied  with  their  present  location 
close  to  the  business  and  hotel  district,  and  their  influence  was  so 
strong,  many  of  the  officials  having  a  financial  interest  in  the 
houses,  that  the  police  had  to  abandon  their  scheme  and  rent  their 
houses  for  commercial  purposes. 

The  police  keep  a  careful  check  on  everything  connected  with 
the  business  of  prostitution,  having  a  special  department  for  the 
registration  of  all  brothels  and  prostitutes.  Before  any  brothel 
can  be  opened  a  permit  must  be  secured  from  the  police  and  no 
permits  in  excess  of  the  number  allowed  by  the  police  regulations' 
will  be  issued,1  no  one  who  has  been  in  jail  is  allowed  to  act  as 
manager  of  a  house  of  prostitution,  no  brothels  are  allowed  to 
have  windows  or  porches  facing  on  the  street  nor  can  they  be 
decorated  too  highly,  a  list  of  all  prostitutes  and  maid  servants 
must  be  filed  with  the  police,  and  all  changes  must  be  promptly 
reported;  furthermore  the  house  manager  must  immediately  no- 
tify the  police  in  case  any  of  the  customers  are  known  to  be 
fugitives  from  justice,  to.  be  carrying  firearms,  to  be  drunk,  or 
whenever  there  is  any  fight  or  disturbance.  No  house  manager 
is  allowed  to  beat  any  prostitute  cruelly,  to  force  her  to  receive 
customers,  borrow  her  clothes,  take  from  her  any  money  given 
her,  prevent  her  going  from  one  house  to  another  or  even  leaving 
the  business  if  she  so  desires.  All  prostitutes  suffering  from 
venereal  disease  must  be  sent  to  the  hospital. 

Violations  of  the  rules  are  punished  by  fines  or  imprisonment, 
five  to  ten  dollars  or  five  to  ten  days.  In  case  of  serious  continued 
infraction  of  the  rules  the  house  will  be  closed. 

As  far  as  most  of  the  rules  are  concerned,  to  a  casual  ob- 
server they  appear  to  be  lived  up  to.  Certainly  the  buildings 
conform  to  the  rules  and  the  managers  make  their  daily  reports 
to  the  police.  Whether  or  not  those  concerning  the  medical  care 
of  the  women  or  those  requiring  that  a  prostitute's  freedom  shall 
not  be  limited  are  enforced  it  is  impossible  to  say,  though  the 
general  feeling  is  that  the  lack  of  competent  doctors  and  general 
public  opinion  make  it  possible  for  even  diseased  prostitutes  to 
carry  on  their  trade,  while  as  Miss  Maud  Miner  points  out  in  her 
book,  The  Slavery  of  Prostitution,  the  weakening  of  the  will, 
social  pressure  and  economic  dependence  make  virtual  slaves  of 
many  of  the  women,  particularly  those  of  the  lower  classes,  even 
though  no  physical  force  be  used  and  in  spite  of  all  regulations 
that  may  be  adopted  by  the  police. 

>  For  Police  Regulation*  jfor  Prostitutes  and  Brothels,  see  Appendix. 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL  249 

All  brothels  must  pay,  when  they  open,  the  tax  required  of 
all  new  stores — 30  cents  per  $100  of  capital  invested  and  also  a 
monthly  tax  of  from  $3  to  $24,  depending  upon  the  class  to  which 
they  belong.  The  prostitutes  pay  a  monthly  tax  of  from  50 
cents  to  $4,  while  young  girls  living  in  the  brothels  pay  from  50 
cents  to  52.1  The  taxes  collected  from  the  brothels  and  prosti- 
tutes amount  to  some  $10,967  a  month.  When  the  prostitutes 
register  with  the  police  they  must  not  only  give  the  information 
ordinarily  required  but  they  must  also  file  photographs,  writing 
on  them  their  names,  ages  and  native  places.  In  case  a  prostitute 
marries,  her  picture  is  returned  to  her. 

The  police  rules  state  that  any  one  who  buys  women  or  girls 
and  forces  or  induces  them  to  enter  a  life  of  prostitution  will  be 
punished  by  the  court,  but  it  is  very  doubtful  if  it  is  enforced 
except  in  a  few  cases.  There  are  certainly  large  numbers  of  girls 
sold  into  the  trade  presumably  against  their  wills,  while  in  the 
Door  of  Hope  (the  police  rescue  home)  there  are  young  children 
who  were  destined  to  become  prostitutes,  but  who  have  been 
rescued  from  their  abductors.  It  is  practically  certain  that,  because 
of  the  economic  conditions  and  lack  of  public  opinion  on  the 
matter,  the  elaborate  devices  used  in  the  west  to  induce  young 
girls  to  enter  a  life  of  prostitution  are  not  necessary.  Usually 
any  girl  entering  the  life  does  so  with  the  knowledge  and  consent 
of  her  family  or  else  because  she  has  been  forcibly  carried  off. 

The  police  not  only  regulate  the  traffic  but  are  the  ones  to  see 
that  the  taxes  levied  on  the  business  by  the  Municipal  Council 
are  paid. 

PRESENT   CONDITION    OF   PROSTITUTION    IN    PEKING 

To  one  at  all  familiar  with  conditions  of  vice  in  the  large 
cities  of  America,  a  visit  to  the  red  light  district  in  Peking  brings 
a  distinct  surprise.  Instead  of  finding  a  place  where  the  rougher 
elements  of  the  community  meet — a  center  of  carousing,  disorder, 
and  drunkenness — one  finds  order,  quietness  and  discipline. 

The  buildings  are  not  allowed  to  have  any  windows  or  porches 
facing  the  street,  so  there  is  no  open  display.  The  entrances, 
however,  are  marked  with  electrically  lighted  lanterns  and  with 
the  name  and  class  of  the  house.  During  the  evening  the  girls' 
names,  written  on  brass  or  wood  tablets  or  embroidered  on  silk, 
are  hung  outside  the  doors  of  the  first  and  second  class  houses. 

Usually  in  entering  the  first  or  second  class  houses,  some  of 
which  are  semi-modern  two-story  buildings  while  others  are  old 
style  Chinese,  one  goes  through  the  kitchen  and  servants'  quar- 
ters before  entering  the  court  where  the  girls  live.  A  visitor  is 

*  For  Tax  Regulations  for  Brothels  and  Prostitutes,  see  Appendix. 


250  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

always  announced  by  one  of  the  servants  and  is  usually  met  by 
the  proprietor  or  mistress  of  the  house.  He  is  then  invited  into 
one  of  the  rooms  and  asked  whether  he  knows  any  one  in  the 
house  whom  he  would  like  to  call  in.  If  not,  he  is  asked  whether 
he  would  like  to  see  the  girls  and  all  the  inmates  of  the  house 
are  called.  They  come  to  the  door,  one  by  one,  bow,  stand  for 
a  second,  and  then  pass  on.  In  the  second  class  houses  the  girls 
are  called  by  number ;  in  the  first  class  houses,  by  name. 

Entering  the  most  eastern  of  the  three  districts  in  the  South 
City,  in  which  most  of  the  third  and  fourth  class  houses  are 
located,  one  goes  through  a  number  of  very  small,  poorly  lighted 
lanes,  some  of  them  not  more  than  four  feet  wide,  leading  off 
from  the  crowded  market  at  Ts'ai  Shih  K'ou. 

The  houses  are  simply  old  Chinese  courts  surrounded  by  the 
usual  one-story  Chinese  houses.  Each  girl  has  her  own  room, 
which  opens  directly  onto  the  court,  and  she  is  generally  sitting 
or  standing  by  the  door  when  not  entertaining  guests.  In  these 
places,  unlike  the  first  and  second  class  houses,  visitors  are  not 
announced,  the  women  are  not  introduced  and  one  is  free  to  talk 
to  any  of  the  girls.  In  practically  all  of  the  ten  or  fifteen  third 
and  fourth  class  houses  visited  there  were  groups  of  ten  or  fifteen 
men.  The  greater  number  were  merely  observers,  a  few  were 
talking  to  the  girls,  and  a  few  were  visiting  with  them  in  their 
rooms.  In  the  latter  case,  one  girl  was  usually  entertaining  three 
or  four  men.  There  was  very  little  rowdyism  or  vulgar  remarks. 

In  the  two  districts  to  the  west  the  brothels  are  on  the  ordi- 
nary Chinese  hut'ungs  (lanes)  and  are  often  near  small  the- 
aters, restaurants  or  even  private  houses,  the  segregation  not 
being  complete. 

The  character,  age  and  appearance  of  the  women  naturally 
vary  with  the  class  of  the  brothel  in  which  they  are  living.  In 
the  third  and  fourth  class  houses  the  women  for  the  most  part 
are  between  20  and  30  years  old,  are  rather  ignorant  and  gross 
in  appearance  and  are  dressed  in  ordinary  Chinese  clothes  made 
from  cheap  Chinese  blue  cotton  cloth.  On  the  other  hand  the 
women  in  the  first  and  second  class  houses,  particularly  those  in 
the  first  class,  are  attractive  and  even  striking  in  appearance,  are 
dressed  in  beautiful  silks,  many  of  them  are  well  versed  in,  the 
arts  of  entertaining,  having  been  given  a  careful  course  of  prep- 
aration for  many  years,  while  some  have  even  had  a  good  educa- 
tion. Most  of  the  girls  in  the  first  class  houses  are  between  16 
and  18  years  old  and  it  is  said  that  none  of  them  are  over  20. 

Although  extremely  modest  in  behavior,  the  girls  do  not  seem 
at  all  shamefaced  but  are  dignified  and  self-controlled  in  manner. 
Many  of  their  faces,  however,  are  marked  by  the  nervous  strain 
and  tension  of  their  extremely  strenuous  life  of  social  enter- 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL 

tainment.  The  conduct  of  the  girls  seems  to  be  governed  very 
closely  by  those  in  charge  of  the  houses.  They  come  quickly 
when  called  to  see  a  new  guest  and  file  by,  the  doorway,  each  bow- 
ing as  she  passes.  This  whole  performance  is  gone  through  in 
an  impersonal  way,  with  the  absence  of  anything  approaching 
frivolity. 

A  report  from  an  investigator  describes  a  conversation  with  a 
girl  of  one  of  the  best-known  houses  as  follows : 

"We  had  an  opportunity  to  spend  over  an  hour  in  conversa- 
tion with  one  of  these  girls.  She  was  about  16  years  old,  beauti- 
fully dressed  in  Chinese  silks,  most  modest  in  behavior  and  very 
intelligent  in  conversation.  She  told  us  very  frankly  that  she 
had  been  in  the  house  for  about  six  months,  and  with  some 
hesitation  that  her  family  lived  in  the  West  City  in  Peking.  She 
described  something  of  the  life  in  the  amusement  section  of  the 
city  and  told  how  she  went  out  for  banquets  and  entertaining. 
During  the  hour  she  was  called  out  at  least  six  times  to  see  other 
visitors  who  had  come  in.  She  was  also  entertaining  another 
gtoup  of  men  in  another  room  and  was  dividing  her  time  about 
equally  between  us.  She  was  a  good  singer,  but  not  educated  in 
literary  lines,  as  are  many  of  the  girls  in  the  first  class  houses." 

The  inmates  of  the  various  brothels  are  often  natives  of  one 
province  or  sometimes  even  of  one  city,  Soochow,  from  which  it 
is  said  come  the  most  beautiful  girls,  Shanghai,  etc.  This  is 
because  of  the  different  dialects  spoken  in  the  different  parts  of 
the  country,  the  houses  naturally  catering  to  the  men  who  come 
from  the  same  provinces  or  cities  as  the  girls. 

Many  of  the  best  houses  have  very  few  girls  in  them.  The 
average  for  the  first  class  houses  is  a  little  over  eight,  the  higher 
grade  houses  often  have  only  five  or  six  inmates,  while  it  is  said 
that  one  of  the  most  famous  places  is  supported  by  the  visitors 
of  one  girl,  she  of  course  being  a  very  noted  beauty. 

The  life  of  an  inmate  of  a  first  class  brothel  is  one  full  of 
excitement.  Besides  meeting  the  groups  of  men  that  come  to  the 
house  she  is  frequently  called  upon  to  go  to  near-by  restaurants 
or  even  to  the  home  of  some  high  official,  to  entertain  groups  of 
officials  or  business  men.  Many  of  the  girls  also  sing  at  the  small 
theaters  in  the  district,  in  some  of  which  all  the  entertaining  is 
done  by  women  from  the  licensed  quarter.  After  a  woman  has 
finished  her  part,  any  one  who  wishes  may  meet  her  at  the  side 
of  the  stage  and  arrange  for  a  future  meeting.  While  the  lifejis 
most  exciting  and  full  of  change,  it  is  very  evident  that  for  each 
girl  the  season  of  popularity  is  necessarily  short.  The  demand  in 
the  better  houses  seems  to  be  almost  entirely  for  very  young  girls, 
so  unless  a  girl  becomes  the  wife  or  concubine  of  some  wealthy 
merchant  or  official  she  very  soon  starts  on  a  downward  course 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

through  the  second,  third  and  fourth  class  houses,  and  eventually, 
if  she  lives,  may  become  in  her  old  age  an  attendant  to  one  of  the 
prostitutes  in  the  better  class  houses. 

The  following  price  list  gives  the  official  amounts  charged  by 
the  different  class  houses  for  various  sorts  of  entertainment. 

Price  list  for  the  different  classes  of  houses  of  prostitution. 

Class 
First        Second  Third  Fourth 

Dollars  Dollars  Coppers  Dollars  Coppers 
Sitting  and  talking i  50  30        No  fixed 

price. 
Spending  the  night 8         2  i  10-20 

coppers. 
Dinner  parties    124^  Several 

tens  of 

coppers. 

Playing  dominoes   2-f-j  60 

Serving  melon  seeds   10  3 

First  class  prostitutes,  attending  a  dinner  party  or  playing 
dominoes  in  another  house,  are  paid  $3,  in  pairs  $5.  For  them 
to  visit  anywhere  in  the  Manchu  City  costs  $10. 

Second  class  prostitutes,  attending  dinner  parties,  are  not  paid 
a  fixed  amount,  but  the  fee  must  be  at  least  four  times  that  paid 
for  sitting  and  talking  in  their  houses. 

Fees  for  sitting  and  talking  or  spending  the  night  with  clan- 
destine prostitutes  are  the  same  as  those  paid  the  first  class 
registered  prostitutes. 

There  is  no  charge  for  merely  visiting  a  house  and  looking  at 
the  inmates. 

It  will  be  seen  that  many  of  the  charges  are  for  general  social 
entertainment,  and  as  far  as  we  could  learn  from  observation  and 
from  inquiry  those  who  go  to  the  brothels  for  social  entertain- 
ment and  conversation  with  the  prostitutes  far  exceed  those  who 
go  for  other  purposes. 

Besides  the  regular  system  of  fees  above  mentioned,  it  is  nec- 
essary for  a  high  official  or  wealthy  patron  to  pay  large  sums  of 
money  to  secure  the  good  favor  of  some  of  the  more  prominent 
women  in  the  first  class  houses.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  an 
official  to  spend  as  much  as  $700  or  $800  in  gifts,  banquets,  and 
forms  of  entertainment  before  he  can  go  further  than  ordinary 
social  relations  with  one  of  these  famous  girls.  It  is  also  re- 
ported that  in  some  cases  an  official  may  spend  years  in  merely 
social  relations  with  one  of  the  girls. 

Practically  no  drunkenness  can  be  observed  in  the  segregated 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL  £53 

districts  and  liquor  is  apparently  not  used  to  any  extent  in  enter- 
taining visitors,  but  we  are  told,  on  good  authority,  that  the  use 
of  foreign  liquors  at  banquets  is  greatly  increasing. 

With  the  exception  of  the  worst  of  the  third  and  fourth  class 
houses  the  brothels  are  apparently  kept  very  clean.  The  girls  and 
women  seem  to  be  in  good  health,  but  many  of  them  are  undoubt- 
edly infected  with  venereal  disease. 

The  po-lice  regulations  require  a  periodic  medical  inspection  of 
the  women,  but  as  far  as  we  could  learn  this  was  not  being  con- 
sistently enforced.  An  effort  was  made  to  establish  a  hospital 
for  venereal  cases,  particularly  for  licensed  prostitutes,  but  it  was 
impossible  to  secure  the  necessary  funds.  Many  of  the  women 
needing  treatment  are  cared  for  by  the  various  hospitals  through- 
out the  city.  Even  so,  the  licensed  district  must  be,  as  it  is  in 
other  countries,  the  source  of  a  tremendous  amount  of  venereal 
disease. 


ORGANIZATION   OF  THE   BUSINESS   OF   PROSTITUTION 

There  is  evidently  some  organization  among  the  owners  of 
the  houses  of  prostitution,  as  they  recently  made  a  united  request 
to  the  police  board  that  all  fees  should  be  paid,  in  big  money,  but 
there  does  not  seem  to  be  anything  that  corresponds  to  a  gild. 
We  have  not  been  able  to  discover  whether  or  not  these  men  are 
organized  in  their  work  of  procuring  girls. 

RECRUITING 

It  has  been  impossible  to  secure  any  adequate  information 
regarding  the  recruiting  of  girls  for  this  traffic,  but  it  is  generally 
known  that  many  of  the  women  have  been  sold  into  this  life 
from  the  flood  and  famine  districts.  The  usual  price  of  a  young 
girl  of  6  or  7  years  is  $200,  though  in  cases  of  dire  poverty 
young  girls  are  often  sold  for  much  less,  sometimes  for  just  a 
few  dollars,  provided  there  is  a  promise  of  food  and  clothing  for 
them.  It  is  also  known  that  some  persons  make  a  practice  of 
kidnaping  children  for  this  sort  of  life  and  it  is  said  that  children 
abandoned  on  the  street  are  used  for  this  practice.  Parents  have 
also  been  known  to  enter  into  partnership  with  the  owner  of  a 
house  to  divide  the  daughter's  earnings.  The  house  manager 
trains  and  educates  her  and  then  in  case  she  is  sold  for  a  con- 
cubine divides  the  profits  of  the  sale  with  her  parents.  The 
cadet  system,  so  frequent  in  western  countries,  has  probably  not 
been  developed  in  China,  but  there  are  certain  classes  of  men 
such  as  fake  medical  practitioners,  drug  clerks,  keepers  of  pawn- 
shops, and  theater  attendants,  who  really  act  in  this  capacity.  It 


254  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

is  also  said  that  there  are  some,  families  that  make  a  business  of 
procuring  girls. 

TRAINING 

Apparently  there  is  in  Peking  no  organized  educational  sys- 
tem for  training  public  women  as  in  Japan.  The  training  is  done 
rather  on  the  apprentice  system  by  the  individual  houses.  The 
girls  are  taken  when  quite  young,  some  who  are  only  eight  or  ten 
years  old  being  seen  around  the  brothels,  and  are  given  a  long 
course  of  training  in  singing,  music,  conversation,  all  the  arts  of 
entertaining  and  many  times  a  very  good  classical  education. 

ADVERTISING 

Unlike  Shanghai  where  solicitation  is  openly  and  grossly  prac- 
ticed and  it  is  considered  "great  fun"  for  the  visitor  to  go 
through  the  streets  of  the  segregated  district  and  to  be  solicited 
by  these  "wild  fowl"  who  "only  fool  the  country  people  and  old 
people,"  very  little  is  apparent  in  Peking.  There  are  reported 
instances  of  solicitation  in  the  Central  Park,  at  the  East  Market, 
and  also  in  the  New  World,  but  the  police  regulations  are  most 
strict,  and  any  one  found  soliciting  is  arrested  and  fined.  A  re- 
liable citizen  of  Peking,  however,  made  the  statement  that  solici- 
tation affects  at  least  50  percent  of  the  older  students.  We  have 
no  proof  to  disprove  or  to  confirm  this  statement,  but  certainly 
whatever  solicitation  there  may  be  is  carried  on  in  a  less  obtrusive 
manner  than  in  the  west  and  is  kept  almost  concealed.  Licensed 
houses  are  so  open,  accessible  and  numerous  that  there  seems 
little  need  for  such  practice. 

Practically  all  the  newspapers  give  extensive  publicity  to  the 
houses  of  prostitution  and  derive  therefrom  large  financial  benefit. 
Beauty  contests  are  conducted  among  the  prostitutes  for  the  sake 
of  the  publicity  the  press  can  give  to  the  winners,  and  special 
"write-ups"  of  such  events  are  published,  together  with  pic- 
tures of  the  women.  In  some  of  the  Peking  newspapers  attrac- 
tive pictures  of  the  women  are  pasted  beside  the  advertisement 
for  the  houses,  while  in  others  an  entire  page  will  be  given  up  to 
prostitutes'  cards.  These  will  give  the  girl's  picture  or  her  name 
in  large  type,  her  address  and  telephone  number  and  then  a  bit 
of  description  as :  "Her  face  is  like  a  flower,  and  her  body  like  a 
jewel."  "She  is  lovable  and  as  beautiful  as  the  moon."  "She  is 
an  actress  of  Peking.  She  was  born  at  Chichou.  Her  original 
name  was  Li  Hui  Fan.  She  is  17  years  old.  Although  she  is 
not  very  beautiful,  she  is  able  to  act  dramas.  Mr.  Chu  An  loves 
her  very  much  and  sends  this  picture  to  us/'  "She  is  beautiful 
even  when  she  does  not  laugh."  "She  has  a  beautiful  face  and 


SLAVE  GIRLS. 

In   the  Door  of  Hope,  a  Rescue  Home  run  by  the  police. 


WONDERING   WHICH   GIRL  HE  WOULD  LIKE  TO   HAVE  FOR  HIS   WIFE. 
Inmates'   pictures  outside  the   Door   of   Hope. 


PROSTITUTES'  ADVERTISING. 

Clippings  from  one  of  Peking's  Daily  Newspapers.  Peking  has  3,130  reg- 
istered prostitutes  and  377  licensed  brothels.  Addresses  and  telephone  numbers 
deleted. 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL  255 

eyebrows."  "She  comes  from  Shanghai  and  sings  very  beauti- 
fully." 

Newspaper  men  are  either  paid  in  money  or  in  trade,  and  in 
special  cases  may  even  be  allowed  the  privilege  of  giving  a  feast 
in  the  house  to  which  they  may  invite  their  friends.  Under  such 
conditions  it  is  obvious  that  it  would  be  most  difficult  to  inau- 
gurate a  press  propaganda  against  the  traffic. 

Pawnshops  are  also  places  of  advertisement,  the  pictures  and 
addresses  of  the  women  frequently  being  displayed  on  their 
walls.  The  restaurants  and  tea  shops  often  have  lists  of  prosti- 
tutes on  their  tables  and  are  always  ready  to  call  them  by  tele- 
phone to  come  and  entertain  guests. 

The  ricksha  men  are  quite  well  posted  on  the  addresses  of 
most  of  the  houses  and  usually  receive  a  commission  when  they 
bring  visitors.  Some  act  as  agents  for  certain  houses  and  will 
often  take  new  arrivals  in  the  city  directly  to  one  of  these  houses 
rather  than  to  the  desired  hotel. 

The  prostitutes  themselves  frequently  appear  in  public  places, 
and  even  if  they  do  not  openly  solicit  men  they  will  be  approached 
by  those  who  can  tell  by  their  dress  the  class  of  society  to  which 
they  belong. 

In  one  medium-sized  theater  outside  Ch'ien  Men  it  is  cus- 
tomary for  second  class  women  to  appear  and  sing.  Following 
their  appearance,  engagements  may  be  made  by  any  one  present. 

The  trade  is  also  promoted  through  the  cooperation  of  quack 
doctors  and  the  wide  advertisement  of  preventive  medicines. 
Frequently  these  doctors  will  advise  their  patients  to  go  to  one 
of  these  houses  as  a  cure  for  seminal  emissions,  described  by 
these  doctors  as  harmful.  The  legitimate  cure  "606"  is  also  sold 
as  a  preventive  of  venereal  disease.  Public  lavatories  are  supplied 
with  advertisements  of  quack  doctors  and  quack  medicines. 

Personal  friendship  is  perhaps  the  method  of  advertisement 
that  really  takes  most  people  to  the  district.  Among  the  students 
attending  the  clinic  at  the  Union  Medical  College  and  infected 
with  venereal  disease,  the  usual  reply  to  the  question,  "How  did 
you  first  go  to  the  district  ?"  was,  "A  friend  took  me  there."  The 
students  also  reported  that  they  were  greatly  influenced  by  news- 
paper advertisements. 

CONNECTION    WITH    PLACES   OF   AMUSEMENT 

Vice  in  Peking  is  not  so  closely  related  to  places  of  amuse- 
ment as  in  some  western  cities.  Up  to  1912  there  were  no 
actresses  on  the  stage,  men  only  being  allowed  to<  appear.  In  the 
past  few  years  women  have  been  acting  in  a  limited  number  of 
theaters,  but  in  no  case  do  men  and  women  belong  to  the  same. 


256  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

troupe.  Prostitutes  are  found  among  the  actresses  and  in  some 
theaters  that  make  a  specialty  of  singing,  etc.,  the  actresses  all 
come  from  the  licensed  quarter  and  use  the  theater  as  a  means  of 
advertising. 

Lists  of  the  prostitutes  are  kept  in  many  of  the  restaurants 
and  the  girls  are  sent  for  by  telephone,  the  guests  frequently 
returning  with  them  after  dinner  to  the  houses  of  prostitution. 
In  the  tea  houses,  when  business  men  or  officials  give  parties, 
women  are  often  called  in  to  act  in  the  capacity  of  hostesses. 
The  hotels  are  said  to  be  used  as  assignation  houses  to  some 
extent  and  a  prominent  official  reported  to  us  that  several  large 
hotels  had  been  recently  opened  expressly  for  this  purpose.  Con- 
cubines and  young  people  from  private  homes  can  go  to  such 
places  undetected.  The  public  bathhouses  have  little  or  no  con- 
nection apparently  with  prostitution. 

The  two  great  amusement  centers  in  the  South  City,  the  New 
World  and  the  park  in  the  Temple  of  Agriculture,  are  said  to 
be  places  where  patrons  are  found  for  the  brothels.  The  women 
from  the  houses  sing  in  the  small  theaters  in  these  places  of 
entertainment,  make  engagements  after  giving  their  acts  and 
do  some  other  soliciting.  In  Central  Park  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  public  women  can  usually  be  seen  among  the  crowd. 


EXTENT   OF   THE    SOCIAL    EVIL    AMONG    SPECIAL    CLASSES 

The  first  and  second  class  houses  are  used  principally  by  well- 
to-do  business  men  and  officials,  there  being  a  growing  practice 
among  many  merchants  and  government  officials  of  spending 
their  leisure  hours  in  drinking  tea  or  holding  feasts  or  even 
conducting  important  conferences  in  these  houses.  Many  men, 
who  themselves  have  no  interest  in  visiting  the  prostitutes,  are 
compelled  to  go  to  these  houses  if  they  are  to  maintain  valuable 
relations  with  business  associates  or  political  friends. 

Officials  often  send  their  automobiles  and  have  women 
brought  to  their  houses.  A  trustworthy  gentleman  states  that 
often  an  official  will  give  a  feast  for  a  famous  courtesan  in  his 
own  home  excluding  his  wife  and  children  who  together  with 
the  neighbors  and  others  have  the  privilege  of  peering  in  at 
the  windows  to  see  the  excitement. 

Many  of  the  older  college  students  are  making  a  practice  of 
visiting  these  houses.  In  going  through  houses  of  all  four  classes 
we  saw  many  students  usually  in  groups  of  two  or  three  in  the 
rooms  of  the  prostitutes.  The  practice  is  so  general  that  it  is 
a  distinct  problem  and  certain  colleges  have  had  to  adopt  very 
strict  rules  of  discipline  concerning  it.  The  Army  'Medical 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL  257 

College,  for  example,  deducts  10  percent  from  final  marks  of 
any  student  who  is  seen  in  the  segregated  district. 

The  soldiers  are  probably  the  most  immoral  of  any  class  of 
men  in  China.  They  are  certainly  very  much  in  evidence 
throughout  the  segregated  district.  It  is  said  that  many  of  them 
refuse  to  pay  for  the  privileges  that  they  enjoy  and  that  the 
women  and  house  managers  have  no  way  of  getting  satisfaction, 
for  at  present  the  military  man  has  pretty  much  his  own  way 
in  China. 

Conditions  are  particularly  bad  in  the  districts  around  the 
military  camps:  the  soldiers  at  T'ung  Hsien  and  in  the  camp 
northwest  of  Peking  frequently  visit  married  women  in  the 
near-by  villages.  In  some  villages  it  was  found  that  practically 
every  woman  was  receiving  visitors.  The  customary  price  for 
such  illicit  relations  was  $i. 

Contrary  to  the  common  opinion  regarding  immoral  living 
among  the  soldiers,  a  major  at  Nan  Yuan  maintained  that 
only  3  percent  of  his  men  were  infected  with  venereal  disease. 
He  claimed  that  the  worst  offenders  in  military  camps  are 
grooms,  kitchen  workers,  or  coolies,  who,  though  wearing  an 
incomplete  uniform,  are  nevertheless  sometimes  mistaken  for 
soldiers  and  thus  bring  an  undeserved  blame  on  the  real  soldiers. 

Vice  is  increasing  not  only  among  the  rich,  but  also  among 
house  servants  and  other  paid  workers.  What  is  taken  up  by 
the  officials  is  readily  copied  by  those  in  the  lower  ranks  of 
society. 

Very  immoral  conditions  are  said  to  exist  among  the  beggars. 
Lacking  the  money  needed  to  patronize  the  licensed  houses  they 
cohabit  with  women  of  their  own  class  and  it  is  also  said  that 
many  of  them  are  sodomists. 

A  prominent  Chinese  physician  in  Peking  made  this  state- 
ment :  "There  is  no  chance  for  my  friends  to  entertain  or  enjoy 
a  relaxing  social  atmosphere  at  home.  Very  few  of  my  friends 
use  their  homes  for  social  or  business  purposes,  and  they  see 
no  reason  why  they  should  not  go  to  houses  of  prostitution 
instead.  A  friend  of  mine  in  Tientsin,  a  compradore  in  a  bank, 
a  man  of  very  high  character,  is  compelled  to  go  to  these  places 
to  do  business.  He  takes  it  as  a  matter  of  fact  and  has  no 
objection  to  it.  Eighty  percent  of  my  friends  go  to  such  first 
class  houses  for  purely  social  and  business  dealings." 

THE   BY-PRODUCT   OF   THE   SOCIAL   EVIL   IN    PEKING 

The  obvious  result  of  the  increasing  immoral  life,  especially 
among  the  officials,  is  that  many  of  the  nation's  present  leaders 
are  being  robbed  of  their  courage  and  integrity.  It  is  extremely 


258  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

difficult  for  a  man  to  hold  high  official  rank  without  spending  a 
very  large  part  of  his  time  in  the  licensed  quarter  attending  din- 
ners and  wasting  his  energy  in  late  hours.  Furthermore,  the 
example  of  the  officials  encourages  vice  throughout  the  nation. 
Gambling  is  also  many  times  connected  with  the  banquets  and 
among  high  officials  the  stakes  often  run  from  $10,000  to 
$100,000.  Last  year  one  high  official  is  reported  to  have  lost 
$500,000  in  one  evening's  gambling  at  a  summer  resort  near 
Peking. 

The  spreading  of  venereal  infection  is  another  by-product  of 
the  habit  of  visiting  prostitutes.  It  is  impossible  to  accurately 
estimate  the  amount  of  disease  as  the  opinions  and  figures  of 
different  doctors  vary  tremendously.  A  well-informed  Chinese 
doctor  says  that  among  the  lower  classes  in  the  city  the  general 
health  of  90  percent  is  affected,  while  almost  one-third  of  the 
students  and  better  classes  have  or  have  had  venereal  disease. 
Ten  percent  of  the  out-patient  cases  of  the  Union  Medical  College 
Hospital  are  due  to  venereal  disease.  In  the  charitable  hospitals 
of  Peking  and  Tientsin  more  than  35  percent  of  the  patients  have 
diseases  of  syphilitic  origin.  A  prominent  foreign  doctor  of 
long  experience  in  China  said  that  fully  one-half  of  the  blindness 
in  China  is  due  to  gonorrheal  infection  and  that  the  people  in 
China  do  not  appreciate  the  seriousness  of  venereal  disease.  In 
one  hospital  in  Peking  nine-tenths  of  the  adults  who  come  for 
treatment  have  been  infected  by  venereal  disease.  In  another 
Peking  hospital  where  the  average  daily  clinic  is  600  patients, 
200  of  whom  are  women,  one-third  of  the  patients  have  venereal 
infection.  In  one  of  the  hospitals  for  women  where  6,000 
patients  were  treated  last  year,  250  were  venereal  cases.  Of  these 
all  but  12  had  been  infected  by  their  husbands  or  by  the  unsani- 
tary practices  of  midwives. 

In  discussing  the  question  of  venereal  diseases  in  China,  a 
prominent  Chinese  doctor  said  that  they  are  not  so  virulent 
there  as  in  the  west,  probably  because  of  the  racial  immunity 
of  the  Chinese  and  the  absence  of  any  heavy  drinking  of  intoxi- 
cating liquors.  In  connection  with  the  social  evil  and  the  robust 
Chinese  constitution,  he  also  claimed  that  in  China  venereal  dis- 
ease does  not  result  in  blindness  or  insanity  as  frequently  as  in  the 
west  nor  are  they  contracted  indirectly  as  often  as  in  other 
countries. 

An  interesting  study  of  4,000  married  men  made  by  Dr.  W.  G. 
Lennox  of  the  Union  Medical  College  throws  some  light  on  the 
question  of  venereal  disease  in  Peking,1  even  though  the  group 
represented  only  portions  of  the  middle  and  lower  classes  being 
divided  into  the  following  groups  :  Students,  14  percent ;  servants, 

1  Some  Vital  Statistics — China  Medical  Journal — July,   1919. 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL  259 

15  percent;  industrial  workers,  n  percent;  shopkeepers,  10  per- 
cent; farmers,  8  percent;  coolies  and  hard  workers,  7  percent. 
Twenty- two  percent  of  the  men  examined  admitted  that  they  had 
had  gonorrhea ;  syphilis  7.9  percent ;  both  3.9  percent.  Deducting 
the  158  men  who  had  had  both  at  some  time  there  were  1,004  out 
of  the  4,000  or  a  little  more  than  25  percent  who  admitted 
venereal  infection,  the  statistics  being  obtained  from  questioning 
the  men  rather  than  by  examination.  Even  so,  the  men  seemed 
willing  to  answer  the  questions  and  apparently  did  not  try  to 
hide  the  fact  that  they  had  been  infected. 

Those  who  say  they  have  had  gonorrhea  contracted  it  on  the 
average  6.7  years  ago  and  those  who  have  had  syphilis  4.2  years 
ago;  this  means  that  most  of  these  men  have  been  infected  since 
their  marriage  as  they  have  been  married  on  the  average  14 
years. 

Of  no  male  servants  examined  for  syphilis  in  1919  by 
Dr.  J.  H.  Korns,  of  the  Union  Medical  College,  Peking,  10,  or 
approximately  10  percent,  showed  a  decidedly  positive  reaction, 
while  only  one  (2  percent)  of  the  52  women  servants  whose 
blood  was  similarly  examined  reacted.  The  test  for  gonorrhea 
was  positive  for  only  two  out  of  119  males  while  in  the  case  of 
60  females  none  showed  a  positive  reaction.  Dr.  J.  A.  Snell  of 
Soochow,  who  has  been  doing  routine  blood  tests  for  syphilis 
on  all  his  in-patients,  found  a  positive  reaction  in  40  percent  of 
the  cases,  but  of  course  hospital  percentages  cannot  be  taken  as 
typical  of  the  entire  population.  No  similar  study  has  been 
made  of  the  patients  in  any  Peking  hospital. 

The  dispensary  of  the  Union  Medical  College  is  giving  treat- 
ment for  syphilis  to  civilians  for  $18  and  to  soldiers  for  $10. 
Most  of  those  taking  the  treatment  are  about  30  years  of  age. 

Another  effect  of  the  social  evil  in  China  is  the  breakdown 
of  marital  bonds.  The  old  patriarchal  family  is  now  in  the 
process  of  dissolution  and  the  single  family  unit  will  have  diffi- 
culty in  replacing  it  satisfactorily  if  there  is  a  continued  increase 
in  the  practice  of  visiting  houses  of  prostitution  and  of  taking 
secondary  wives. 

PLURAL   WIVES 

The  practice  of  taking  secondary  wives  or  concubines  was 
common  even  before  the  founding  of  the  Republic  but  has 
apparently  become  more  prevalent  since  that  time.  It  is  even 
estimated  that  at  least  80  percent  of  the  officials  have  secondary 
wives  and  the  taking  of  concubines  has  become  a  fad  in  Peking. 
One  official  is  reported  to  buy  a  new  concubine  every  month 
while  many  have  harems  of  from  5  to  10  girls.  Many  of  the 
officials  boast  of  the  number  of  wives  they  have  very  much  as 


260  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

in  other  countries  gentlemen  describe  the  spirited  horses  in  their 
stables.  If  the  concubines  come  from  the  first  class  houses  of 
prostitution  the  men  often  pay  from  $5,000  to  $10,000  for  them. 
The  custom  of  taking  secondary  wives  is  also  spreading  among 
the  lower  classes.  A  foreigner's  cook  was  even  found  to  be 
supporting  three  wives  at  the  same  time.  Apparently  the  eco- 
nomic burden  is  the  only  bar  to  the  taking  of  extra  wives. 

In  spite  of  the  extent  of  the  practice  the  secondary  wife  has 
no  standing  under  the  law  and  no  right  in  her  husband's  property. 
If  he  dies  she  must  leave  his  home  unless  his  family  are  willing 
to  support  her.  Her  social  standing  is  somewhat  anomalous. 
The  first  or  legal  wife  will  never  recognize  her  socially  and  so 
she  must  find  her  society  among  other  secondary  wives.  Even 
so  the  prestige  of  being  associated  with  a  wealthy  and  powerful 
family  gives  her  a  position  much  above  anything  she  has  probably 
known  in  the  past.  On  the  other  hand,  no  stigma  is  attached 
to  her  children  who  are  all  accepted  as  legitimate  children  and 
heirs  of  their  father. 

RESCUE   WORK 

The  Door  of  Hope1 

In  order  to  help  modify  the  worst  features  of  the  licensed 
system  of  prostitution,  the  police  department  has  established  a 
rescue  home  for  prostitutes  known  as  the  Door  of  Hope  (Chi 
Liang  So).  Formerly  it  was  in  the  South  City  at  Wu  Tao  Miao, 
but  has  recently  been  moved  to  the  northwestern  part  of  the 
Manchu  City,  and  combined  with  the  Women's  Industrial  Home 
(Nu  Hsi  I  So)  and  the  Women's  Reformatory  (Kan  Hua  So). 
There  are  four  classes  of  people  in  these  institutions ;  the  inmates 
of  the  Industrial  Home — dependent  women  who  have  been 
brought  there  by  the  police;  small  children  who  have  been  res- 
cued from  kidnapers,  from  homes  of  opium  smokers  or  from 
poor  families;  the  inmates  of  the  Door  of  Hope — women  from 
1 6  to  25  or  30  years  of  age,  who  either  have  been  rescued  from 
houses  of  ill  fame  or  who  have  voluntarily  left  their  former 
occupation  and  entered  the  Door  of  Hope ;  women  prisoners 
who  have  been  sentenced  by  the  police  for  misconduct,  and  who 
are  serving  definite  sentences  under  practically  prison  conditions. 
The  number  in  the  different  institutions  in  August,  1919,  was: 

Industrial  Home,  women 127 

children    48 

The  Door  of  Hope 65 

Women's    Reformatory    36 

1  See  Appendix,  Regulations  of  the  Peking  Door  of  Hope. 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL 

The  buildings  of  the  Women's  Reformatory  and  the  Door 
of  Hope  are  spacious  and  obviously  designed  to  be  developed 
into  a  large  industrial  school,  the  women  of  the  Door  of  Hope 
and  of  the  Industrial  Home  working  together  in  a  large  semi- 
modern,  one-room  building  about  200  feet  square.  At  present 
only  about  one-third  of  the  building  is  used  and  apparently  the 
only  industry  taught  is  sewing.  Twenty  or  more  Singer  sewing 
machines  are  used  by  the  women.  The  other  buildings  are  of 
the  usual  Chinese  style,  rows  of  one-story  rooms,  surrounding 
large  courtyards.  Besides  the  living  rooms,  there  are  a  few 
classrooms,  where  the  younger  inmates  of  these  institutions 
receive  common  school  education.  A  separate  court  is  set  aside 
for  the  children  of  the  Women's  Industrial  Home,  the  youngest 
of  whom  is  about  6  years  old.  All  the  buildings  and  courts  of 
the  Door  of  Hope  and  the  Women's  Industrial  Home  are  kept 
clean  and  in  good  order. 

Behind  a  row  of  the  dormitory  buildings  of  the  Industrial 
Home  and  around  a  large  inclosed  court  are  those  of  the 
Women's  Reformatory.  The  women  in  this  institution  are 
closely  guarded,  and  visitors  are  only  allowed  to  look  through 
the  lattice  doorway  of  the  open  court.  The  condition  of  the 
women  in  this  institution  is  much  worse  than  of  those  in  the 
Door  of  Hope  and  the  Women's  Industrial  Home.  The  court 
is  not  so  clean  and  the  clothing  of  the  women  is  ragged  and 
dirty.  In  one  important  respect,  however,  the  inmates  of  the 
Women's  Reformatory  have  the  advantage  of  those  of  the  other 
institutions.  Their  sentence  is  for  a  definite  period,  while  appar- 
ently the  women  in  the  Door  of  Hope  and  the  Industrial  Home 
cannot  leave  unless  they  are  married. 

According  to  the  police  regulations  any  woman  may  be  sent 
to  the  Door  of  Hope  who  has  been  forced  into  prostitution,  who 
is  badly  treated  by  the  manager  of  a  house  of  prostitution  or  is 
not  allowed  her  freedom,  who  desires  to  give  up  the  practice 
of  prostitution  or  who  has  no  place  to  go  or  relatives  who  can 
support  her,  but  she  is  admitted  only  after  her  case  has  been 
examined  by  the  police  or  by  a  court.1  Any  prostitute  who 
wants  to  enter  the  Door  of  Hope  may  bring  her  case  to  the 
attention  of  the  police  by  a  personal  or  written  appeal  to  the 
head  of  any  police  district,  by  an  appeal  to  any  officer  on  duty 
or  by  going  directly  to  the  Door  of  Hope.  Apparently  applicants 
can  be  admitted  only  if  there  are  vacancies  in  the  home,  as  some 
time  ago  one  police  official  stated  that  they  had  twice  as  many 
applicants  as  could  be  cared  itv 

In  the  institution  the  inmates  are  entirely  under  the  super- 
vision of  women  though  the  head  of  the  home  is  a  man.  Both 

1  Regulations  of  the  Peking  Door  of  Hope,  Art.  3 — See  Appendix. 


262  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

educational  and  industrial  work  is  given,  the  regulations  calling 
for  six  hours  of  school  work  a  day  and  stating  that  Chinese, 
moral  teachings,  arithmetic,  art,  cooking,  drawing,  calesthenics 
and  music  are  to  be  taught,  though  it  is  doubtful  that  all  the  sub- 
jects are  taught.  Anything  made  by  the  inmates  is  to  be  sold  and 
any  amount  received  over  and  above  the  actual  cost  of  material, 
etc.,  is  to  be  given  to  the  woman  who  made  it. 

Apparently  once  she  is  admitted  to  the  Door  of  Hope  a 
woman  is  not  allowed  to  leave  until  either  her  relatives  are 
willing  to  assume  her  support  or  she  is  married,  generally  the 
latter.  All  of  the  women  must  be  photographed  and  not  only 
are  the  pictures  hung  in  the  photograph  room  where  any  one 
can  inspect  them  but  many  of  them  are  also  put  on  a  board 
outside  the  gate  of  the  institution  where  passers-by  can  see  them. 
Any  one  seeing  a  face  that  attracts  him  may  ask  the  manager 
of  the  Door  of  Hope  to  allow  him  to  see  the  girl  and  talk  over 
with  her  the  question  of  marriage.  If  both  parties  are  satisfied 
the  man  must  file  an  application  blank  with  the  police  on  which 
he  must  give  his  name,  age,  address,  business  and  state  whether 
he  wants  the  woman  as  his  wife  or  concubine.  He  must  also 
be  guaranteed  by  three  shops  in  the  city.  If  the  police  investiga- 
tion of  the  matter  proves  the  statements  in  the  application  to 
be  correct,  the  wedding  agreement  is  signed  in  duplicate,  the 
original  going  to  the  woman  and  the  copy  being  kept  by  the 
police.  At  the  time  of  his  marriage  the  man  must  make  a  con- 
tribution to  the  Door  of  Hope,  the  amount  of  which  depends 
upon  his  ability  to  pay  and  the  desirability  of  the  girl  he  is 
marrying,  and  he  is  given  an  official  receiDt  for  this  contribution. 
Ordinarily  the  official  contribution  amounts  to  anywhere  from 
$10  to  $200.  In  the  case  of  some  specially  desirable  girl  the 
unofficial  contributions  are  also  apt  to  be  large.  In  case  some 
official  finds  he  is  unable  to  come  to  terms  with  the  keeper  of  a 
brothel  for  the  purchase  of  one  of  the  inmates  of  the  house 
he  will  often  report  to  the  police  that  the  girl  has  been  mis- 
treated by  her  manager.  They  will  investigate  the  case  and 
have  the  girl  sent  to  the  Door  of  Hope.  Then  after  a  time 
the  official  is  allowed  to  marry  her,  of  course  for  a  financial  con- 
sideration. 

According  to  the  police  report  the  budget  of  the  Door  of 
Hope  amounted  to  $12,223  m  I9I7-1 

It  is  impossible  to  give  a  fair  criticism  of  the  work  of  this 
institution  without  much  more  familiarity  with  it  than  is  possible 
at  present.  However,  the  shamefaced  appearance  of  a  large 
number  of  the  older  girls,  the  large  number  of  police  guards 
connected  with  the  institution,  and  the  general  character  of  the 

-  See  Appendix  for  detailed  statement. 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL 

superintendents,  would  lead  us  to  believe  that  much  could  prob- 
ably be  done  to  humanize  this  so-called  "Home." 

But  in  spite  of  any  criticisms  that  may  be  made,  such  a  home 
by  affording  a  means  of  escape  tends  to  modify  at  least  to  a  slight 
degree  the  life  of  many  women  of  the  red  light  district.  And 
it  is  of  special  help  in  taking  care  of  the  children  rescued  from 
kidnapers  and  from  the  homes  of  opium  smokers. 

REFORM 

The  failure  of  the  Social  Reform  Association  to  accomplish 
lasting  results  in  moral  reform  shows  the  great  difficulty  of 
checking  the  social  evil  in  Peking.  This  society  was  organized 
four  years  ago  by  Mr.  Frank  Yung  T'ao  to  fight  the  three  evils 
of  concubinage,  prostitution  and  gambling;  its  membership 
quickly  rose  to  17,000;  public  meetings  were  held  at  the  Temple 
of  Heaven,  Central  Park,  and  other  places  and  they  were  well 
attended;  the  paper  that  was  printed  had  promise  of  wide 
circulation,  but  the  society  has  not  functioned  to  any  extent  since 
the  arrest  and  subsequent  removal  to  Tientsin  of  its  leader, 
Mr.  Yung  T'ao.  However,  even  in  its  short  life  it  showed  the 
large  number  of  people  who  are  interested  in  social  reform  and 
who  might  be  counted  upon  to  rally  to  the  support  of  a  strong 
leader. 


CHAPTER  XI 
POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY 

China  has  had  to  face  the  problems  of  poverty,  suffering  and 
need  for  thousands  of  years.  Her  population  has  been  constantly 
pressing  upon  the  means  of  subsistence,  and  even  in  ordinary 
times  many  individuals  have  been  unable  to  support  themselves 
and  their  families.  Since  the  country  has  been  organized  almost 
entirely  on  an  agricultural  basis,  and,  as  communication  from  one 
part  of  the  country  to  another  has  been  difficult,  whole  districts 
have  often  faced  starvation  and  death  because  of  famine,  flood 
or  drought.  In  order  that  help  might  be  given  to  the  needy 
and  their  suffering  relieved  to  some  extent,  two  systems  of  charity 
have  developed,  one  private  and  the  other  public.  Private  charity 
has  cared  for  the  poor  that  are  ordinarily  found  in  every  dis- 
trict, while  the  Government  has  been  the  agency  to  give  relief 
when  whole  districts  were  affected  and  the  private  agencies  were 
powerless  to  give  the  needed  help. 

The  giving  of  relief  by  the  Government  was  the  logical  result 
of  the  old  Chinese  idea  of  the  Emperor  and  his  relation  to  the 
people.  He  was  the  "Son  of  Heaven"  and  he  alone  was  respon- 
sible for  the  welfare  of  the  people  intrusted  to  his  care.  All 
power  belonged  to  him  and  any  that  the  officials  possessed  was 
delegated  to  them  by  him.  He  and  his  associates,  of  necessity, 
had  to  act  when  the  people  were  in  need,  but  the  organization  of 
the  paternalistic  Government  was  such  that  it  responded  only 
when  a  great  number  of  people  were  suffering. 

Originally  China  used  little  or  no  money.  Her  population 
was  almost  entirely  agricultural,  and  each  district  had  to  be  for 
the  most  part  self-supporting  as  there  was  but  little  opportunity 
for  trade.  Grain  for  the  support  of  the  army  and  the  officials 
was  the  great  need  of  the  Government,  so  the  taxes  were  col- 
lected in  kind.  For  transporting  the  large  quantities  of  grain 
received,  canals,  or  grain  rivers  (Yun  Ho)  as  they  were  called 
by  the  Chinese,  were  constructed  by  the  Government;  and  for 
storing  it  huge  granaries  were  built  throughout  the  country. 
In  times  of  poor  harvest  and  need,  the  Government  used  to 
forego  all  or  part  of  the  grain  that  it  usually  received  as  taxes. 
If  the  conditions  were  especially  bad,  the  taxes  might  be  remitted 
for  a  number  of  years ;  while  in  times  of  great  and  wide-spread 

264 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  265 

distress  the  Government  would  open  its  granaries  and  distribute 
grain  to  the  suffering  people. 

At  the  present  time,  China  is  on  a  money  basis,  and  taxes 
are  paid  in  dollars  rather  than  in  kind.  Consequently  govern- 
mental relief  is  given  in  money,  but  even  so  arrangements  are 
made  whereby  grain  can  be  shipped  into  the  districts  that  are 
in  need.  Reductions  in  freight  rates  are  usually  given  and  grain 
is  often  sold  at  a  reduced  price. 

The  earliest  known  regulations  concerning  state  relief  are 
found  in  the  "Chou-Li,"  a  document  supposed  to  have  been 
written  about  1115  BB.C.  by  the  Duke  of  Chou  when  he  was 
regent.  The  regulations,  although  never  carried  out,  say: 

The  almoner  is  in  charge  of  the  corn  stored  in  the  country  to  do 
relief  work — the  corn  in  the  country  being  used  to  relieve  the  hardships 
of  the  people,  the  corn  at  the  frontiers  and  gates  to  relieve  the  aged 
and  the  fatherless,  the  corn  in  the  suburban  places  to  entertain  the  guests, 
the  corn  of  the  country  places  to  relieve  strangers  and  travelers,  the 
corn  of  the  districts  to  relieve  the  bad  year.  The  corn-controller  holds 
nine-tenths  part  of  the  corn  for  distribution  throughout  the  country, 
periodically  and  in  small  portions.  He  makes  the  estimate  of  the  crop 
of  the  year  and  sees  to  the  wants  of  the  state ;  thus  he  is  able  to  find  out 
if  the  demand  is  well  met  or  not,  and  to  determine  the  ways  of  using 
the  grain,  and  to  manage  the  good  and  bad  years.  If  a  person  consumes 
four  "Fu"  (an  ancient  measure  equal  perhaps  to  one  bushel)  a  month, 
that  would  be  a  year  of  good  harvest;  if  he  consumes  three  "Fu,"  that 
would  be  a  year  of  medium  harvest ;  if  he  consumes  two  "Fu,"  that  would 
be  a  year  of  bad  harvest.  In  case  a  person  gets  less  than  two  "Fu,"  the 
people  must  be  sent  to  where  the  corn  is  abundant,  and  the  king  is 
requested  to  economize  the  use  of  the  corn. 

An  Imperial  Decree  of  75  B.C.  says : 

Whereas  the  people  are  made  to  suffer  by  the  flood  and  are  in  need 
of  food,  I  have  ordered  the  granaries  opened  and  have  appointed  com- 
missioners to  relieve  them.  Let  it  be  known  that  no  rice  need  be  trans- 
ported for  four  years,  and  that  relief  and  loans  made  by  the  government 
to  the  people  before  this  year  become  gratuitous  and  call  for  no  repay- 
ment. 

In  45  B.C.  the  Government  loaned  money,  seeds  and  food 
to  the  poor  whose  property  amounted  to  less  than  1,000  cash, 
and  two  years  later,  43  B.C.,  similar  privileges  were  granted  to 
the  farmers  who  had  no  land.  In  194  A.D.,  a  part  of  the  country 
now  known  as  Southern  Shansi  suffered  from  drought  and  the 
price  of  corn  rose  tremendously.  The  people  were  even  driven 
to  gnaw  human  bones  and  to  cannibalism.  The  Emperor  ordered 
that  the  granaries  be  opened  and  the  grain  be  given  to  the  people 
as  gruel.  The  number  of  deaths  did  not  decrease  on  the  day 
following  the  first  distribution  of  this  relief,  and  the  Emperor, 
fearing  that  the  official  in  charge  was  not  distributing  the  amount 


266  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

of  grain  stated  in  his  report,  went  in  person  to  superintend  the 
feeding  of  the  people.  He  found  the  measures  inaccurate  and 
the  official  getting  rich  while  the  people  died  around  his  door. 
In  1094,  the  Government  was  in  need  of  grain  as  the  granaries 
were  empty  and  there  was  famine  in  the  land.  Much  food 
remained  in  the  hands  of  the  well-to-do  merchants,  and  in  order 
to  secure  control  of  this  the  Government  announced  that  it  would 
confer  a  title  upon  the  donor  of  a  certain  amount  of  grain,  while 
others  would  be  given  certificates  granting  them  exemption  from 
taxes  for  some  four  years. 

In  1917,  Chihli  and  northern  Shantung  were  visited  by  a 
flood  that  left  some  three  million  people  homeless.  Private 
charity  did  much  to  relieve  the  destitute  but  it  was  soon  seen  that 
the  help  of  the  Government  would  be  needed  if  any  adequate 
relief  was  to  be  given.  A  loan  of  $3,000,000  was  arranged  with 
the  foreign  bankers;  the  money  was  distributed  in  money  grants, 
supplies  of  grain,  and  by  giving  men  employment  on  improvement 
work  so  that  they  could  earn  enough  to  keep  themselves  and  their 
families  alive  and  at  the  same  time  replace  washed-out  dikes,  build 
new  roads,  etc. 

Sometimes  the  grain  stored  in  the  Imperial  granaries, 
together  with  the  amount  that  could  be  coaxed  from  the  store- 
houses of  the  wealthy,  was  insufficient  to  relieve  the  distress  in 
some  districts  and  the  Government  was  then  forced  to  resort 
to  colonization.  In  205  B.C.  the  poor  were  sent  from  the  north 
central  part  of  the  country  to  southern  Shensi  and  northeastern 
Szechuan.  In  137  B.C.  Shantung  suffered  from  flood,  and 
because  of  the  lack  of  grain  the  people  were  sent  to  the  north 
and  western  marches.  The  imperial  decree  required  that  the 
emigrants  should  be  furnished  food  and  clothes  by  the  local 
authorities  of  the  districts  through  which  they  passed,  and  that, 
in  the  districts  where  they  settled,  the  officials  should  allow  them 
to  lease  land  and  property  and  also  furnish  them  food  and 
clothing  until  such  time  as  they  might  become  self-supporting. 
Over  100,000  persons  were  sent  out  under  this  colonization 
scheme. 

Only  small  private  colonization  schemes  were  attempted  after 
the  floods  of  1917,  and  the  officials  were  far  from  enthusiastic  in 
their  support  of  these.  The  Government  felt  that  it  had  done 
all  that  was  needed  when  it  had  furnished  temporary  relief  to 
the  people  in  their  home  districts,  even  though  there  were  parts 
of  the  country  in  which  the  land  was  so  deeply  flooded  that  it 
would  not  be  available  for  cultivation  again  for  over  ten  years. 
The  land  was  below  the  river  bed  and  there  was  no  outlet  for 
the  flood  water. 

When  relief  was  not  required  for  entire  districts  the  Govern- 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  267 

ment  was  sometimes  moved  to  give  relief  to  special  classes,  the 
aged,  the  widow,  the  orphan,  the  childless,  the  disabled  and  the 
destitute.  Chinese  history  tells  of  help  being  given  to  these 
groups  in  30  A.D.,  while  in  75  A.D.  the  same  classes  received 
three  hu  (approximately  two  bushels)  of  grain  apiece. 

Indoor  relief  as  a  rule  has  not  been  carried  on  by  the  Govern- 
ment. In  some  instances,  institutions  have  been  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  local  official,  but  this  has  been  because  he  personally 
supplied  the  funds  and  not  because  of  any  established  govern- 
mental policy. 

The  largest  single  agency  for  private  philanthropy  has  been 
the  Chinese  family  system.  A  common  treasury  and  a  family 
kitchen  have  made  it  possible  for  many  families  to  care  for  their 
disabled,  aged  or  diseased  and  even  ne'er-do-well  members, 
though  it  has  also  encouraged  the  lazy.  Those  who  have  had 
no  family  to  support  them  have  been  given  help  by  the  gentry 
and  well-to-do  families  of  the  district.  Clothes,  flour,  medicine, 
and  coffins  have  been  given  to  those  who  could  establish  their 
status  as  paupers,  while  institutional  relief  has  been  given  in 
orphanages,  widows'  homes,  soup  kitchens  and  life  saving  insti- 
tutions established  by  the  gentry. 

The  care  of  the  dead  and  their  proper  burial  are  considered 
very  important  by  the  Chinese.  Some  people  even  seem  to  feel 
that  it  is  a  greater  service  to  a  man  to  give  him  a  decent  burial 
than  to  keep  him  alive  with  a  gift  of  food  and  clothing.  Conse- 
quently, among  China's  philanthropic  organizations  are  groups 
of  men  who  are  banded  together  to  provide  coffins,  funerals  and 
burial  places  for  the  destitute  and  the  stranger. 

Those  who  have  made  a  study  of  this  private  relief  feel  that 
in  motives  and  relation  to  the  religious  life  of  the  people 
it  resembles  the  relief  that  was  given  in  western  countries  in 
the  Middle  Ages.  The  chief  aim  of  the  giver  was  to  gain 
for  himself  a  good  reputation  or  to  purchase  the  rewards 
of  the  future  life,  the  idea  of  helping  the  unfortunate  being 
entirely  secondary.  With  the  coming  of  the  Revolution  and  the 
establishment  of  the  Republic  the  conception  of  the  purpose  and 
function  of  charity  and  relief  is  rapidly  changing.  The  Govern- 
ment is  beginning  to  recognize  its  new  relation  to  the  citizen, 
and  is  undertaking  more  and  more  local  and  institutional  relief, 
while  private  philanthropy  is  beginning  to  see  that  the  relation 
of  those  who  give  to  those  who  receive  is  one  of  helpfulness  and 
service.1 

Under  the  Empire,  the  poor  relief  of  Peking  was  carried  on 

1  Based  on  a  lecture  given  by  Prof.  L.  K.  T'ao  of  the  Peking  University  before 
a  Seminar  on  "Social  Institutions  in  Peking"  conducted  by  J.  S.  Burgess  and  S.  D. 
Gamble  for  students  of  the  North  China  Union  Language  School,  and  later  pub- 
lished in  the  1919  Supplement  of  the  Peking  Leader,  and  elsewhere. 


268  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

almost  entirely  by  individuals  or  private  associations,  but  since 
the  establishment  of  the  Republic  practically  all  of  the  institu- 
tional relief  of  the  city  has  been  taken  over  by  the  Government, 
and  most  of  it  is  under  the  control  of  the  police,  that  being  the 
agency  in  closest  touch  with  the  people  and  so  best  able  to  recog- 
nize those  in  need  of  relief  and  worthy  of  it.  Even  so,  a  large 
amount  of  private  philanthropy  is  still  carried  on  by  gilds,  asso- 
ciations or  individuals,  working  in  connection  with  the  police 
or  entirely  independent  of  them.  In  two  instances,  an  orphanage 
and  an  old  ladies'  home,  private  charity  is  carrying  on  with  great 
success  experiments  in  institutional  management  which  are  in 
time  bound  to  have  their  effect  on  the  more  stabilized  and  stand- 
ardized police  institutions. 

In  the  past  various  writers  have  attempted  to  make  an  esti- 
mate of  the  number  of  destitute  persons  to  be  found  in  Peking, 
one  man  even  going  so  far  as  to  say  that,  besides  the  professional 
beggars,  three-quarters  of  the  population  were  living  upon  the 
charity  of  the  other  quarter,1  but  figures  that  even  approach 
accuracy  have  been  available  only  since  1914,  when  the  police 
commenced  taking  the  census.  As  the  officers  have  listed  the 
various  families  they  have  specially  marked  those  that  in  their 
judgment  are  "Poor"  or  "Very  Poor."  The  men  in  charge  of 
the  census  work  admit  that  this  classification  has  been  made 
according  to  the  judgment  of  the  individual  officers  who  have 
determined  those  who  are  in  special  need  by  comparing  them 
with  other  families  in  the  district,  but  they  also  say  that  while 
no  absolute  standards  have  been  adopted  none  of  the  poor  fami- 
lies have  an  income  of  25  coppers  a  day  ($66  a  year  silver, 
$352  gold)  if  there  are  two  in  the  family,  or  35  coppers  a 
day  ($93  a  year)  if  there  are  four  in  the  family,  as  these 
amounts  are  considered  sufficient  for  self-support.  When  the 
Chinese  call  a  family  "poor"  it  can  be  depended  upon  that  they 
are  in  need.  Where  the  standard  of  living  is  so  low,  a  family 
must  be  absolutely  destitute  before  the  others  will  call  them 
poor. 

The  study  of  the  budgets  of  195  Chinese  and  Manchu  fami- 
lies living  in  one  of  the  Military  Guard  districts,  some  seven  miles 
northwest  of  Peking,  gives  further  detailed  information  on  the 
standard  of  living  in  that  part  of  the  country.3  The  family 
incomes  range  from  $30  to  $269  a  year,  the  median  being  in  the 
group  receiving  between  $90  and  $109  a  year.  The  Chinese 
families  all  live  within  their  incomes  even  though  they  receive  no 
more  than  $50  a  year,  while  if  they  earn  $70  a  year,  they  are  able 

1  Rochechouard — Peking. 

*  Unless  otherwise  noted,  all  amounts  are  given  in  silver. 

8  C.  G.  Dittmer:  An  Estimate  of  the  Chinese  Standard  of  Living,  Quarterly 
Journal  of  Economics,  Vol.  33,  November,  1918. 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  269 

to  save  money.  The  Manchu  families,  on  the  other  hand,  all 
show  a  deficit  until  their  income  is  over  $90  a  year. 

With  such  low  incomes  it  is  but  natural  that  the  expenditure 
for  food  should  constitute  the  largest  item  in  the  family  budget. 
In  some  cases  it  is  as  high  as  90  percent.  Eighty-five  percent 
is  not  unusual  and  the  averages  for  the  different  income  groups 
range  from  83  to  68  percent.  The  average  amounts  vary  from 
$34.20  for  the  group  in  which  the  average  size  of  the  family  is 
2.5  persons  to  $132.40  for  the  group  where  the  average  number 
of  persons  is  4.5.  It  is  small  wonder  that  some  of  the  people 
are  willing  to  walk  three  miles  to  save  half  a  copper  on  the 
price  of  a  meal.  The  regulation  diet  consists  of  two  meals  a 
day  of  cornbread  and  salt  turnips.  The  American  dietitians 
may  say  that  people  cannot  possibly  live  on  such  a  diet  but  thou- 
sands and  even  millions  do  it  in  China. 

Rents  average  from  $5  to  $12  a  year  or  from  5  to  15  percent 
of  the  family  income.  Even  the  best  house  costs  only  $15  a  year. 

Fuel  enough  to  keep  the  family  from  freezing  costs  $6  a 
year  if  it  is  purchased  instead  of  being  gathered  from  the  sur- 
rounding country.  Light  and  fuel  take  on  the  average  from  6 
to  7  percent  of  the  family  income. 

Clothing  costs  these  families  anywhere  from  30  cents  up,  the 
maximum  average  for  the  different  income  groups  being  $11.50 
a  year  for  an  average  family  of  5.1  persons.  The  proportion 
spent  for  clothes  by  the  different  income  groups  varies  from 

3.4  to  8.5  percent.     For  the  Manchu  families  the  maximum  is 

8.5  percent  while  for  the  Chinese  it  is  9.8  percent. 

The  real  measure  of  a  family's  standard  of  living  is  the  pro- 
portion of  its  income  that  it  spends  on  books,  education,  recrea- 
tion, insurance,  savings,  that  multitude  of  things  included  under 
the  heading  "Miscellaneous/*  For  the  Chinese  families  this 
varies  from  1.3  to  6.6  percent  of  the  family  income.  For  fami- 
lies with  the  largest  incomes  the  average  amount  is  only  $8.90. 
The  lowest  proportion  spent  for  "Miscellaneous"  by  American 
families  is  almost  twice  the  maximum  of  the  Chinese,  while  in 
America  a  family  is  thought  to  be  very  poor  if  it  does  not  spend 
20  percent  of  its  income  on  "Miscellaneous,"  or  more  than  three 
times  the  proportion  spent  by  the  most  fortunate  of  these  Chinese 
families. 

In  summing  up,  Prof.  Dittmer  says,  "From  the  study  of  a 
large  number  of  cases  it  appears  that  a  family  of  five  can  live 
in  comparative  comfort  according  to  the  local  standard  on 
$100  per  year  (35  to  40  coppers  a  day).  This  means  that  they 
can  have  enough  food,  though  simple  and  poor,  live  in  a  house 
that  will  at  least  shelter  them  from  the  elements,  have  at  least 
two  suits  of  clothes,  have  enough  fuel  so  they  do  not  have  to  go 


270  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

out  and  gather  it  and  have  $5  left  over  for  miscellaneous 
expenses,  which  will  give  them  meat  on  feast  days  and  tea  quite 
often,  almost  every  week,  while  if  there  is  sickness  they  can  even 
make  a  trip  to  the  Temple  Fair  back  in  the  mountains." 

If  allowance  is  made  for  numbers  and  for  the  fact  that 
prices  are  somewhat  higher  in  the  city  than  they  are  in  the 
country,  the  police  estimate  of  the  amount  required  for  inde- 
pendence, $65  a  year  for  a  family  of  two  and  $93  for  a  family 
of  four,  corresponds  almost  exactly  with  Prof.  Dittmer's  $100 
a  year  for  a  family  of  five. 

Ninety-six  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty  persons  or  11.95 
percent  of  the  population  of  the  city  are  listed  by  the  police 
as  "poor"  or  "very  poor."  Of  these,  31,416  are  classed  as  "poor" 
and  65,434  as  "very  poor,"  or  approximately  one-third  "poor" 
and  two-thirds  "very  poor." 

It  may  be  that  these  figures  are  somewhat  smaller  than  the 
proportion  that  is  below  the  poverty  line  in  cities  of  similar 
size  in  other  countries,  but  even  in  western  countries  the  expres- 
sion "the  submerged  one-tenth"  is  used.  It  must  also  be  remem- 
bered that  the  Chinese  standards  of  living  are  much  lower  than 
those  of  other  countries.  They  tend  to  approach  very  closely 
the  subsistence  minimum,  and  the  proportion  of  the  population 
that  is  poor  should  consequently  be  less.  The  fact  that  the  police 
have  forced  many  beggars  to  leave  the  city  and  are  careful  about 
allowing  any  destitute  families  to  move  into  the  city,  tends  to 
make  the  poverty  of  Peking  less  than  might  be  expected.  The 
most  superficial  study  of  the  suburbs  outside  the  gates  shows 
that  there  the  destitute  constitute  a  much  larger  proportion  of 
the  population  than  inside  the  city  and  that  if  those  living  just 
outside  the  walls  were  included  with  those  living  inside,  the  pro- 
portion of  destitute  would  be  much  higher  than  the  present 
11.95  percent. 

Of  the  96,850  "poor"  and  "very  poor,"  53,921,  or  55.6  percent, 
are  males  and  42,929,  or  44.4  percent,  are  females.  This  is  a 
much  higher  proportion  of  females  than  is  found  in  the  city  as 
a  whole,  where  they  constitute  but  36.5  percent  of  the  population. 
It  means  that  the  problem  of  poverty  in  Peking  is  largely  a  family 
problem.  But  few  single  men  will  be  listed  as  destitute.  If  they 
are  unable  to  make  a  success  in  Peking  they  will  go  elsewhere 
to  try  again  rather  than  remain  in  the  city,  particularly  if  they 
have  any  family  to  which  they  can  return.  The  proportion  of 
55  percent  male  and  45  percent  female  is  that  which  is  found 
in  the  districts  where  residences  predominate  and  the  people 
are  living  on  a  family  basis  rather  than  as  groups  of  men  in 
the  stores.1 

*See  Chapter  IV,  Population. 


SURE  OF  ONE  HOT  MEAL  ON  A  COLD  DAY. 

A  beggar  waiting  at  a  Chou  Ch'ang.  During  the  cold  weather  these  soup 
kitchens  established  by  government  agencies,  give  one  hot  meal  a  day  to  all  who 
come.  Some  months  over  700,000  meals  are  given  away. 


A   TYPICAL   BEGGAR  FAMILY. 

This    family    might    report,    as    one    actually    did,    an    annual    expenditure    of 
thirty  cents   for   clothes. 


MOVING  DAY. 

All  the  family  possessions  would  hardly  make  a  load  for  one  ricksha. 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  271 

The  "very  poor"  of  the  city  are  living  in  15,689  houses  or 
an  average  of  4.17  persons  per  house.  This  is  somewhat  smaller 
than  the  average  for  the  entire  city,  4.9 ;  but  would  be  expected. 
The  conditions  under  which  the  poor  have  to  live  make  for  a 
small  family,  both  because  of  the  higher  death  rate  and  because 
of  the  looser  family  ties  that  exist  where  want  and  need  are  ever 
present.  Prof.  Dittmer  found  that  as  the  family  income 
increased  the  average  size  of  the  family  also  increased.1 

Then,  too,  the  size  of  a  man's  income  has  a  direct  bearing 
on  the  size  of  his  family.  Prof.  Dittmer's  study  of  a  group  of 
Chinese  and  Manchu  families  and  our  study  of  the  church 
families  show  that,  in  any  given  group,  as  the  income  increases 
the  average  size  of  the  family  increases.  This  does  not  neces- 
sarily mean  that  there  are  more  children,  but  simply  that  the 
total  number  in  the  family  is  larger.  Under  the  Chinese  family 
system,  a  man  who  has  an  income  is  required  to  support  not  only 
his  wife  and  children,  but  his  relatives  as  well,  and  the  number 
who  look  to  him  for  support  apparently  depends  upon  the  size 
of  his  income. 

The  figures  giving  the  number  of  "very  poor"  in  the  different 
police  districts  reflect  the  general  character  of  the  districts.  In 
those  where  business  is  congregated  there  are  but  few  poor 
families.  They  are  crowded  out  into  the  less  desirable  districts 
and  there  tend  to  make  up  a  large  proportion  of  the  population. 
In  each  of  the  police  districts,  Outside  Left  I,  2  and  5,  and  Out- 
side Right  i  and  2,  the  five  districts  in  the  Chinese  City  in  which 
a  large  part  of  the  business,  hotel  and  amusement  life  of  the  city 
is  centered,  the  "very  poor"  constitute  less  than  4.5  percent 
of  the  population,  and  in  one  of  these  districts,  Outside  Right  2, 
only  0.2  percent  are  "very  poor."  In  the  other  police  districts 
of  the  South  City  from  8  to  37.8  percent  of  the  population  are 
"very  poor."  These  are  the  districts  in  which  there  is  little  or 
no  business  and  in  which  the  population  tends  to  be  sparse  and 
scattered. 

The  smallest  population  density  and  the  largest  proportion  of 
"very  poor"  are  found  in  the  same  police  district,  Outside  Left 
4.  In  that  district  there  are  only  6,209  persons  per  square  mile 
and  37.8  percent  of  these  are  "very  poor."  The  average  popu- 
lation density  for  the  entire  city  is  33,626  per  square  mile  while 
for  the  different  police  districts  the  maximum  is  83,823  per 
square  mile.  It  so  happens  that  this  maximum  is  found  in  Police 
District  Outside  Left  5  adjoining  Outside  Left  4. 

In  the  North  City,  there  are  only  three  police  districts  in 
which  more  than  10  percent  of  the  population  are  "very  poor." 

1  An  Estimate  of  the  Chinese  Standard  of  Living,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics, 
Vol.  33,  November,  1918. 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


POVERTY 
Per  Cent  "Very  Poor" 


37.8% 


Figure  21 


Two  of  these,  Central  I  and  Central  2,  are  inside  the  Imperial 
City  and,  as  this  part  of  .Peking  used  to  be  specially  reserved 
for  members  of  the  Imperial  household  and  their  families,  most 
of  those  who  are  living  in  these  districts  are  Manchus,  many 
of  whom  were  deprived  of  their  means  of  support  when  their 
government  pensions  were  discontinued  or  greatly  reduced  after 
the  establishment  of  the  Republic  in  1912.  The  Manchus  also 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  27S 

make  up  a  large  proportion  of  the  population  of  the  districts 
Inside  Right  3,  where  15.8  percent  of  the  population  are  "very 
poor,'*  and  Inside  Left  3  and  Inside  Right  4  where  the  "very 
poor"  are  just  less  than  10  percent  of  the  population.1 

As  far  as  can  be  discovered,  the  causes  underlying  the  pov- 
erty of  Peking  and  all  of  China  are  much  the  same  as  those  found 
in  other  cities  and  countries.  Ignorance,  sickness,  personal  unfit- 
ness  all  play  their  part,  but  probably  in  China  the  causes  of  desti- 
tution are  more  social  than  they  are  in  other  countries.  Where 
the  standard  of  living  is  so  low,  where  industry  is  not  highly 
developed  and  where  there  seems  to  be  not  enough  work  to  keep 
everybody  busy  the  forces  entirely  outside  the  control  of  the 
individual  that  tend  to  force  him  below  the  subsistence  level  are 
more  numerous  and  the  margin  of  safety  is  less  than  in  other 
countries. 

The  social  custom  that  requires  that  a  man  must  be  recom- 
mended by  some  friend  for  any  available  work  and  prevents 
him  from  applying  for  the  job  in  person  contributes  its  share 
to  the  total  amount  of  poverty.  Because  of  the  difficulty  of 
finding  a  new  position  it  is  many  times  a  real  tragedy  for  a  man 
to  lose  his  job  even  though  it  pays  him  only  $5  a  month. 
Foreigners  who  discharge  their  servants  may  find  them  on  the 
streets  a  few  months  later  starving  and  in  rags,  unable  to  find 
work;  consequently,  rather  than  dismiss  a  man  and  so  bring 
suffering  on  him  and  his  family,  minor  irregularities  are  often 
overlooked. 

Inherent  racial  qualities  are  not  responsible  for  poverty  in 
Peking  even  though  a  large  proportion  of  the  Manchus  are 
destitute.  Their  past  experience  and  the  change  in  the  Govern- 
ment are  responsible  for  their  dependency.  Under  the  Empire 
they  were  the  special  servants  of  the  throne.  They  gave  military 
service  to  the  Emperor  and  were  not  allowed  to  do  other  work. 
They  were  required  to  live  within  30  li  (10  miles)  of  Peking, 
they  could  not  own  land  and  had  to  depend  upon  a  government 
pension  for  their  support.  This  pension  was  stopped  after  the 
establishment  of  the  Republic  in  1912;  and  now  anything  they 
receive  must  come  from  the  annual  grant  of  $4,000,000  made 
by  the  Republican  Government  to  the  family  of  the  deposed 
Emperor,  and  by  them  distributed  to  their  relatives  and  retain- 
ers. Long  years  of  living  on  government  bounty  have  unfitted 
most  of  the  Manchus  for  earning  a  living,  and  now  many  of 
them  would  rather  starve  than  go  to  work.  Cases  are  known 
where  they  have  been  willing  to  sell  even  the  bricks  from  their 
floors  before  they  would  do  anything  to  earn  money.  A  com- 
parison of  the  Manchu  and  Chinese  budgets  also  shows  that  the 

1  See  Appendix  for  tabulated  figures. 


274  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

'Manchus  spend  a  larger  proportion  of  their  incomes  on  luxuries 
than  do  the  Chinese ;  and,  although  the  Chinese  families  all  live 
within  their  income  even  if  it  is  only  $50  a  year  and  begin  to  save 
money  when  they  receive  more  than  $70  a  year,  the  Manchu 
families  all  show  a  deficit  until  their  income  is  over  $90  a  year.1 

Manchus  willing  to  work  can  find  employment  only  in  the 
unskilled  lines  and  that  means  competition,  low  wages,  a  lower 
standard  of  living  and  destitution  for  those  who  have  known 
comfort  in  the  past.  The  problem,  of  course,  is  a  temporary 
one  that  will  be  remedied  with  the  coming  of  a  new  generation, 
but  just  now,  during  the  time  of  adjustment,  it  is  particularly 
acute. 

Just  how  large  a  proportion  of  the  Manchus  are  destitute,  or 
what  proportion  of  the  poor  of  the  city  belong  to  that  race,  it 
is  impossible  to  say.  Race  lines  are  not  carefully  drawn  in 
the  city  and  not  at  all  in  the  statistics,  but  in  the  police  districts 
in  the  Imperial  City  and  in  the  north  part  of  the  Tartar  City, 
where  there  is  a  particularly  large  proportion  of  Manchus,  a  large 
percentage  of  the  population  is  "very  poor/' 

The  destitute  of  Peking  have  naturally  turned  to  begging  in 
order  to  eke  out  an  existence,  but  any  who  were  unexpectedly 
in  need  have  had  to  ask  help  of  their  friends  and  neighbors. 
They  could  not  go  out  on  the  highways  and  ask  for  alms,  as 
that  territory  was  controlled  by  the  Beggars  Gild,  an  organiza- 
tion that  included  in  its  membership  all  the  professional  beggars 
in  the  city.  These  were  careful  to  see  to  it  that  no  newcomers 
encroached  upon  any  of  their  territory  and  that  those  who  would 
beg,  should  join  the  gild  and  abide  by  the  decrees  of  its  "king." 
This  "king"  established  the  rules  of  the  gild,  assigned  begging 
territory  in  the  city  to  the  various  gild  members,  saw  to  it  that 
they  did  not  encroach  upon  each  other's  territory,  made  sure  of 
his  contribution  from  each  one,  and  determined  the  assessments 
that  were  to  be  levied  on  the  merchants,  store-keepers  and 
wealthy  families.  If  this  assessment  were  paid  all  would  be  well, 
but  woe  to  the  man  who  refused  to  pay — his  house  would  be 
surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  the  "finest"  specimens  the  gild  could 
produce  and  the  street  would  be  so  filled  that  customers  or 
guests  could  not  get  in.  In  1906,  a  fee  of  10  taels  was  demanded 
by  the  Beggars  Gild  when  a  store  of  an  ordinary  size  opene'd 
for  business,  while  if  the  store  were  a  large  one  the  amount  of 
the  assessment  was  correspondingly  increased.2  Well-to-do 
families  were  specially  assessed  at  the  time  of  weddings  and 
funerals  and  few  if  any  of  them  ever  tried  more  than  once  to 
refuse  to  pay  the  amount  demanded. 

1  Prof.  C.  G.  Dittmer:     An  Estimate  of  the  Chinese  Standard  of  Living,  Quarterly 
Journal  of  Economics,  Vol.  33,  November,   1918. 

2  Peking  Daily  Paper,  1 906. 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  275 

The  beggars  not  only  levied  toll  on  special  occasions  but  also 
collected  daily  contributions  from  the  stores.  Rather  than  have 
them  stand  around  outside  the  doors  and  constantly  beseech  alms, 
the  store-keepers  decided  that  it  was  better  to  give  them  alms 
whenever  they  came  and  so  save  annoyance  and  "loss  of  face.*' 
Consequently,  the  custom  was  established  that  every  beggar  who 
came  was  given  two  cash ;  and  long  lines  of  these  men  used  to 
wind  down  the  streets  going  from  store  to  store,  each  man  col- 
lecting his  two  cash  from  every  store.  That  was  the  day's 
contribution,  and  the  beggars  were  not  allowed  to  call  again 
until  the  next  day.  Even  now,  although  the  police  have  greatly 
reduced  the  amount  of  begging,  a  line  of  beggars  can  sometimes 
be  seen  going  past  the  entrance  of  the  Tung  An  Shih  Ch'ang  or 
East  Market,  each  man  receiving  one  copper  from  the  money 
changer  at  the  door,  who  in  turn  is  reimbursed  by  the  stores  in 
the  bazaar. 

The  beggars  also  used  to  have  one  day  during  the  autumn 
of  every  year  when  they  would  go  into  the  stores  and  take 
whatever  they  wanted.  The  store-keepers  could  get  absolutely 
no  protection  from  the  police,  and  could  not  even  protect  them- 
selves by  refusing  to  put  out  their  goods.  The  beggars,  if 
angered  by  the  stinginess  of  a  merchant,  were  not  slow  to  loot, 
wreck,  or  even  fire  his  shop.1 

One  of  the  principal  gathering  places  of  the  beggars  was  the 
bridge  in  front  of  the  Ch'ien  Men,  the  main  gate  between  the 
North  and  South  Cities;  and  before  1900  the  crowd  on  the 
center  of  the  three  roadways  of  the  bridge  was  one  of  the  sights 
of  the  city.  Since  the  Boxer  year  and  the  foreign  occupation 
the  beggars  have  been  kept  away  from  this  bridge. 

In  1878,  it  was  estimated  that  Peking  had  over  20,000  naked 
beggars.2  About  the  only  official  help  given  them  was  the  main- 
taining of  a  Beggars  Retreat  where  some  1,000  of  them  could 
get  in  out  of  the  cold  for  the  night  and  secure  a  little  food.  This 
Retreat  was  originally  established  about  1700  A.D.  by  the 
Emperor  K'ang  Hsi.3 

Officially,  no  begging  is  now  allowed  in  Peking.  The  police 
have  broken  up  the  Beggars  Gild,  have  driven  many  of  its 
members  outside  the  city,  and  threaten  with  fine  or  imprisonment 
any  one  found  begging,  but  in  spite  of  the  law  one  can  hear 
the  beggar's  call  of  "Lao  T'ai  T'ai"  (old  lady)  in  almost  any 
hut'ung  (small  street)  in  the  city.  Even  on  the  main  thorough- 
fares, beggars  ply  their  trade  and,  running  along  beside  the 
rickshas,  beseech  alms.  Certain  ones  apparently  have  definite 
districts  in  which  they  work  unmolested  by  others.  But  although 

1  Morache,   Peking   et  ses   Habitants. 

*  Rochechouard,  Peking. 

1  Morache,  Peking  et  ses  Habitants. 


276  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

they  work  openly  on  the  streets,  they  are  very  careful  to  stop 
their  importuning  whenever  they  come  near  a  policeman.  The 
officers  realize  that  begging  is  going  on,  but  wink  at  it  unless 
it  is  too  open;  and  they  will  always  drive  a  beggar  away  if 
appealed  to  for  relief.  One  of  the  head  police  officials  said  that 
there  were  so  many  poor  people  in  the  city  that  the  police  could 
not  take  care  of  them  all  in  the  poorhouses,  and  so  had  to  let 
them  beg  for  a  living.  One  of  the  Christian  organizations  of 
the  city  suggested  to  the  police  that  they  would  be  willing  to 
establish  a  Kung  Ch'ang  (workshop)  that  would  care  for  5,000 
people  if  the  police  would  stop  the  begging.  Even  this  did  not 
meet  with  the  approval  of  the  police  who  said  that  it  would 
not  begin  to  take  care  of  those  who  needed  the  help  now  gained 
by  begging. 

Begging  still  goes  on,  though  it  is  done  much  more  quietly 
than  it  used  to  be  and  the  beggars  are  not  allowed  to  become 
troublesome.  The  contrast  between  conditions  just  inside  and 
just  outside  the  city  gates  shows  the  control  exerted  by  the  police. 
Just  outside  the  city  can  be  found  a  great  collection  of  beggars 
with  unsightly  sores  and  deformities,  or  braving  the  winter  winds 
with  only  a  bit  of  sacking  for  clothing.  There  will  be  practi- 
cally none  of  these  inside  the  city.  And  outside  the  gates  the 
beggars  are  much  more  insistent  in  their  demands,  for  there  are 
no  policemen  to  whom  an  appeal  can  be  made. 

In  T'ung  Hsien,  15  miles  east  of  Peking,  the  Beggars  Gild, 
with  its  "king,"  is  still  operating  as  did  the  gild  in  Peking  before 
it  was  broken  up  by  the  police. 

CHOU  CH'ANG  (SOUP  KITCHENS) 

On  any  morning  during  the  cold  weather,  groups  of  people 
may  be  seen  gathering  in  some  twelve  centers  in  and  around 
Peking.  Most  of  them  show  by  their  dress  and  appearance  that 
they  are  poor  and  feel  the  pinch  of  hunger  and  the  bite  of  the 
cold.  Many  are  dressed  in  only  the  thinnest  cotton  clothes  even 
though  the  temperature  is  near  zero.  Here  and  there  is  a 
beggar  with  a  padded  quilt  around  his  shoulders  but  with  trousers 
that  are  tattered  rags.  Some  beggar  boys  are  wearing  only  a  thin 
cotton  shirt  and  no  trousers ;  others  among  the  crowd  have  warm 
padded  clothes  and  padded  or  even  fur  caps.  Many  of  the 
women  bring  babies  and  children  with  them.  One  and  all  are 
carrying  bowls,  buckets,  tin  cans,  baskets,  anything  that  will  hold 
a  dipperful  of  hot  porridge;  for  they  are  going  to  the  chou 
ch'ang  or  soup  kitchens  where  they  will  be  given  a  free  meal 
of  hot  porridge. 

As  they  crowd  through  the  gate,  each  one  is  handed  a  small 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  277 

piece  of  bamboo  which  takes  the  place  of  an  admission  ticket 
and  later  must  be  presented  to  the  man  who  is  dishing  out  the 
food.  Those  who  are  early,  stand  around  in  the  shelter  of  the 
mud  wall  protecting  themselves,  as  best  they  can,  from  the  north 
wind,  and  making  the  most  of  the  brilliant  sunshine.  The  beg- 
gars crouch  down  and  wrap  themselves  up  in  their  quilts,  and 
for  added  warmth  put  two  or  three  small  pieces  of  glowing  char- 
coal in  a  dish  between  their  feet.  Because  of  the  cold  even  those 
who  are  wearing  warm  clothes  are  careful  to  keep  their  hands 
up  their  sleeves. 

When  the  time  comes  for  distribution,  the  outer  gate  is  closed 
so  that  there  may  be  no  chance  for  any  repeating  and  those  who 
are  in  the  courtyard,  numbering  anywhere  from  seven  hundred 
to  three  thousand,  are  lined  up  in  single  file.  First  come  the 
children,  then  the  women,  and  finally  the  men.  The  long  line  goes 
slowly  by  the  large  tubs  of  steaming  porridge  where  each  per- 
son, after  his  little  bamboo  stick  has  been  collected,  is  given  a 
big  dipperful  of  the  hot  food.  No  one  is  allowed  to  eat  his 
porridge  in  the  courtyard ;  so  those  in  charge  see  to  it  that  every 
one  leaves  as  soon  as  he  is  served.  Once  outside  the  gate  it 
does  not  take  long  for  the  porridge  to  disappear,  and  few  if 
any  of  the  bowls  are  taken  home  full. 

In  the  olden  days  this  feeding  of  the  poor  was  done  by  private 
charity  or  by  the  temples  and  mosques,  and  in  the  other  parts  of 
China  these  agencies  are  still  doing  it.  In  Peking,  however,  this 
work,  together  with  many  of  the  other  organized  charities,  has 
been  almost  completely  taken  over  by  the  Government  acting 
through  the  police,  the  Military  Guard  and  the  Ching  Chao  Ying 
or  Metropolitan  District.  These  boards  have  established,  in  and 
around  the  city,  twelve  centers  from  which  free  food  is  dis- 
tributed to  all  who  come  during  the  cold  months  of  the  year. 
No  questions  are  asked  of  those  who  receive  the  food,  the  fact 
that  they  apply  being  taken  as  sufficient  evidence  of  their  need. 
Seven  of  the  twelve  centers  are  run  by  the  police,  three  by  the 
Military  Guard  and  two  by  the  Ching  Chao  Ying. 

Free  food  is  also  distributed  from  a  few  centers  that  are  still 
privately  managed,  but  they  are  very  small  and  at  the  most  care 
for  a  few  hundred  persons.  It  has  been  impossible  even  to  make 
a  complete  list  of  them  and  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  gather 
any  detailed  information  concerning  them. 

The  distribution  of  free  food  begins  as  soon  as  the  weather 
has  turned  really  cold,  and  continues,  if  sufficient  funds  are 
provided,  until  spring.  The  minimum  length  of  time  is  100  days 
and  the  maximum  about  120.  In  1918,  the  chou  ch'ang  were  run 
from  December  ist  to  April  ist,  while  in  1915  they  did  not  open 
until  January  2nd,  and  then  ran  until  April  2Oth. 


278  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

The  food  furnished  consists  of  a  hot  porridge  of  millet  and 
rice,  seven  parts  millet  and  three  parts  rice.  The  allowance  per 
person  averages  from  3^  to  4  ounces  of  grain.  This  of  course 
is  hardly  sufficient  to  allow  the  people  to  make  the  chou  ch'ang 
their  only  source  of  food,  and  most  of  them  use  it  simply  to 
supplement  what  other  food  they  can  secure.  There  are  families, 
however,  who  have  lived  through  the  winter  and  whose  only  food 
was  these  few  ounces  of  hot  grain  given  them  once  a  day. 
Some  families  had  not  only  no  money  with  which  to  buy  food 
but  not  even  clothes  enough  to  go  around.  Some  had  only  enough 
to  make  a  suit  for  one  person;  that  one  went  to  the  chou 
ch'ang  every  day  and  got  food  for  the  others,  who  could  not 
even  go  out  and  attempt  to  add  to  the  family  income  by  beg- 
ging. A  boy  belonging  to  one  of  these  families  was  found  early 
in  March  searching  the  dumps  for  cigarette  stumps.  He  was 
entirely  without  clothes,  though  the  frost  was  barely  out  of  the 
ground,  and  was  so  cold  and  hungry  that  he  was  stupid  and 
sluggish  in  his  movements ;  but  he  knew  what  money  was  and 
ravenously  clutched  at  a  silver  coin  put  into  his  hand.  All  the 
food  that  he  and  his  mother  and  father  had  had  during  the  winter 
came  from  the  chou  ch'ang  and  they  had  lived  through  the 
winter  without  fuel  and  clothing. 

The  cost  of  the  food  given  away  averages  1.2  cents  per  per- 
son, the  actual  cost  varying  in  the  different  centers  from  0.9  to 
i  %  cents.  Millet,  which  makes  up  the  larger  part  of  the  food, 
cost  in  1915  from  $4.45  to  $5.20  a  Peking  tan  of  150  catties 
(200  pounds). 

In  dealing  with  Chinese  weights  it  is  always  a  problem  to 
discover  exactly  what  standard  is  used,  for  they  vary  from  place 
to  place  and  even  in  the  same  city  are  not  always  uniform. 
Thus,  187  Peking  tan  are  equivalent  to  168.82  T'ung  Hsien  tan, 
and  on  the  west  side  of  Peking  one  sheng  equals  one  cattie 
(1.33  pounds),  while  in  the  East  City  one  sheng  weighs  1.5  catties. 

By  means  of  the  bamboo  counters,  a  daily  record  is  kept  of 
the  total  number  of  meals  served,  and  also  of  the  number  of 
men,  women  and  children  who  come  to  the  chou  ch'ang.  The 
police  in  their  seven  centers  give  away  from  350,000  to  400,000 
meals  a  month  while  the  three  centers  of  the  Military  Guard 
average  from  120,000  to  150,000  and  the  two  of  the  Ching  Chao 
Ying  serve  between  80,000  and  90,000  meals  a  month.  The 
largest  month  reported  by  the  police  in  the  last  three  years  was 
January,  1918,  when  727,815  meals  were  given  away. 

The  monthly  reports  show  that  the  proportion  of  men,  women 
and  children  served  at  the  different  centers  remains  fairly  con- 
stant. The  police  report  40-45  percent  children,  43-46  percent 
women  and  11-18  percent  men.  The  Military  Guard  has  approxi- 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  279 

mately  27  percent  children,  27  percent  men  and  46  percent 
women,  while  of  those  served  by  the  Ching  Chao  Ying,  65-72 
percent  are  women,  12-22  percent  children  and  12-14  percent 
men.  Detailed  figures  concerning  the  work  of  the  chou  ch'ang 
are  given  on  page  487  of  the  Appendix. 

The  actual  expense  of  running  the  chou  ch'ang  depends 
almost  entirely  upon  the  number  of  persons  fed;  for  the  cost 
of  the  tools,  fuel,  work,  etc.,  for  the  different  centers  is  fairly 
constant  and  ranges  from  $200  to  $380  a  year,  which  in  1915 
was  18-26  percent  of  the  total  operating  expense.  The  total 
spent  by  the  police  for  the  operation  of  their  seven  centers 
amounts  to  from  $12,000  to  $15,000  a  year.  In  1915,  it  was 
$11,260.61,  when  963,201  meals  were  given  away  at  the  seven 
centers.  The  grain  used  amounted  to  1,723.17  tan  (one  tan  equals 
150  catties)  and  cost  $5.10  a  tan. 

The  operating  expenses  were : 

Tools  $447.00 

Fuel  537.56 

Wages  412.38 

Miscellaneous  455-5O 

Police  Supervision  620.00 

$2,472.44 

The  Military  Guard  spends  from  $4,000  to  5,000  a  year  on 
its  three  centers  near  Peking,  while  the  Ching  Chao  Ying  spends 
approximately  $2,500  for  its  two  centers. 

The  funds  for  the  chou  ch'ang  are  derived  from  both  offi- 
cial and  private  sources.  The  police  secure  theirs  from  the 
President,  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  the  Municipal  Council, 
the  Bank  of  Communications  and  from  individual  and  private 
sources. 

In  1915  they  received  from  these  sources  the  following 
amounts : 

President  $5,ooo 

Ministry  of  the  Interior      2,000 

Municipal  Council  5,ooo 

Bank  of  Communications     2,000 

Private  Sources  50 

Total  $12,050 

The  Military  Guard  reported  that  in  1915  they  received  $2,000 
from  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  $1,000  from  the  Ching  Chao 
Ying,  $438  from  subscriptions  collected  by  the  police  and  $800 
from  individual  subscriptions.1 

1  Report  for  4th  year  of  the  Republic  (1915),  January  2nd  to  April  aoth.  Munich 
Pal  Council  Magaeine. 


280  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

In  1919,  the  amount  furnished  the  police  by  the  regular 
official  and  private  subscriptions  was  not  sufficient  to  meet 
the  expenses  because  a  larger  number  of  people  than  usual 
applied.  Upon  the  special  petition  of  the  chief  of  police,  the 
Ministry  of  Finance  made  up  the  deficit  of  that  year  but 
distinctly  stated  that  it  would  not  thereby  establish  a  precedent 
for  the  future. 

Some  of  the  chou  ch'ang  still  maintain  a  semi-private 
character,  in  that  the  operating  expenses  for  tools,  fuel,  labor, 
etc.,  are  met  by  the  gentry  of  the  district  where  the  chou  ch'ang 
is  located,  while  the  grain  is  supplied  by  the  government  boards. 
One  outside  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  (one  of  the  east  gates  of  the  city) 
used  to  be  run  by  a  Mohammedan  mosque  but  the  funds  for  the 
purchase  of  the  grain  have  given  out,  and  although  the  food  is 
still  cooked  in  the  mosque  kitchen  the  work  has  been  taken  over 
by  the  Military  Guard.  However,  it  supplies  only  the  grain  and 
one  or  two  men  for  the  general  supervision  of  the  work,  the 
money  for  the  rest  of  the  expenses  being  contributed  by  two 
or  three  wealthy  men  living  nearby. 

Some  $300  is  annually  raised  for  the  chou  ch'ang  by  a  three- 
day  benefit  given  on  the  grounds  of  the  Peking  Water  Company, 
outside  of  the  Tung  Chih  Men.  This  consists  of  an  entertain- 
ment of  singing,  acting  and  acrobatics  given  by  some  nine  groups 
of  men  who  not  only  come  and  give  their  services  but  often  pay 
their  own  expenses  as  well.  These  men  usually  belong  to  some 
club  or  secret  society  and  come  year  after  year  to  make  their 
contribution  to  the  poor  of  Peking.  One  of  these  clubs,  the 
Cloud  Wagon  Society,  sent  40  members  for  the  three  days  and 
subscribed  $35  for  their  expenses.  This  group  sang  old 
Chinese  folk  songs.  The  Old  Large  Drum  Society,  founded  in 
1747,  sent  a  group  of  60  dancers  and  musicians.  The  Centipede 
Sacred  Hell  Society,  with  some  thirty-five  members,  gave  demon- 
strations in  the  use  of  the  double-edged  sword,  chains,  pikes  and 
other  implements  of  combat.  The  Sacred  Jug  Society  was  a 
group  of  15  men  from  the  village  of  Tuen  Van,  who  amused 
the  crowd  by  juggling  jugs.  A  group  of  actors  gave  their  plays 
walking  and  dancing  on  four-foot  stilts.  The  Old  and  Young 
Lions  Sacred  Society  made  sport  for  the  people  with  five  lions 
of  the  two  man  variety,  and  whenever  the  lions  moved  the  drum 
and  cymbal  players  were  sure  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  by 
beating  on  their  instruments. 

FREE    CLOTHES 

With  fuel  scarce  and  the  thermometer  going  to  zero 
Fahrenheit,  the  people  of  North  China  have  to  depend  upon 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  281 

warm  clothes  for  their  protection  from  the  cold.  One  authority  * 
says  that  it  costs  at  least  $6  to  buy  enough  fuel  to  keep  a 
family  from  freezing  and  personal  experience  has  shown  that 
even  the  homes  of  the  well-to-do  are  seldom  more  than  warm. 
The  people  keep  warm  by  putting  on  layer  after  layer  of  clothing 
if  they  have  it.  Wool  is  not  available,  so  they  use  cotton  wad- 
ding to  pad  their  clothes  if  they  cannot  afford  fur-lined  garments. 
The  poor  seem  to  be  able  to  get  along  if  they  have  one  cotton 
padded  suit.  The  usual  supply  of  clothes  for  an  ordinary  person 
is  one  suit  of  plain  cotton  cloth  for  summer  wear,  and  a  padded 
one  for  winter.  Those  who  are  not  so  well  off  have  to  content 
themselves  with  a  single  suit,  putting  in  the  wadding  in  the  fall 
and  taking  it  out  in  the  spring.  Many  times  the  winter  suit  or 
the  cotton  wadding  is  put  into  the  pawn  shop  over  the  summer 
for  safe  keeping,  and  to  give  the  owner  a  little  extra  capital. 
But  it  is  often  impossible  to  repay  the  loan  with  the  2  percent 
interest  a  month,  and  so  the  owner  is  without  his  warm  clothes 
when  winter  comes  around  again.  In  other  cases,  lack  of 
employment  or  sudden  misfortune  forces  families  to  sell  their 
winter  clothes  in  order  to  get  food  to  eat,  and  some  have  been 
found  that  were  so  poor  that  they  had  to  sell  even  their  summer 
clothes.  This  of  course  means  terrible  suffering;  and  the  giving 
of  clothes  has  long  been  one  of  the  established  methods  of  relief. 
Many  people  have  been  willing  to  help  in  this  way  because  it  so 
quickly  relieves  suffering  and  also  because  those  who  are  bene- 
fited do  not  come  with  recurring  demands  for  help. 

As  most  of  the  clothes  are  given  away  through  private 
channels  it  is  impossible  to  make  any  estimate  of  the  number  of 
people  who  are  helped  during  the  winter,  but  the  extent  of  the 
need  is  shown  first  by  the  number  of  the  poor  in  Peking,  96,850 
or  11.95  percent  of  the  population  of  the  city  (table,  pg.  486), 
and  second,  by  the  experience  of  the  captain  of  one  of  the  police 
districts  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  city.  Having  some  20  suits 
of  clothes  to  distribute,  he  set  out  to  find  the  families  that  were 
the  most  needy.  Before  he  had  gone  very  far  he  had  found 
over  loo  families  where  one  or  more  members  were  entirely 
without  clothes.  Faced  with  such  a  need,  he  decided  that  the 
best  he  could  do  would  be  to  give  one  suit  of  clothes  to  a  family 
as  far  as  he  could.  He  had  had  enough  experience  with  the  poor 
to  know  that  it  might  be  well  to  check  up  a  little  bit  later,  and 
make  sure  that  the  clothes  had  not  been  pawned  or  sold.  In  one 
of  the  first  families  that  he  visited,  he  found  the  clothes  missing. 
The  man  frankly  admitted  that  he  had  sold  them,  but  said  "It 
is  all  right  to  see  your  family  without  food  for  one,  two,  or  even 

1  Prof.  C.  G.  Dittmer:  An  Estimate  of  the  Chinese  Standard  of  Living,  Quarterly 
Journal  of  Economics,  November,  1918. 


282  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

three  days,  but  by  the  time  they  have  had  nothing  to  eat  for  four 
or  five  days,  you  don't  care  where  the  clothes  come  from,  you 
sell  them  and  use  the  money  to  buy  food." 

Inasmuch  as  the  police  are  thoroughly  conversant  with  the 
problems  of  the  poor  of  the  city,  quite  a  number  of  those  who 
want  to  do  something  to  help  are  giving  clothes  to  the  police 
and  asking  that  they  distribute  them  to  the  needy  and  worthy 
families.  Besides  this,  the  police  and  Military  Guard  are  using 
part  of  their  funds  to  give  clothes  to  the  poor  as  well  as  to  feed 
them.  During  the  winter  of  1916-17,  they  gave  clothes  to  5,740 
persons  besides  using  the  cast-off  uniforms  of  the  police  officers 
and  soldiers  for  the  inmates  of  the  charitable  institutions. 

To  give  an  adult  a  suit  of  padded  clothes  costs  approximately 
$2.75. 

SHELTERS   FOR   RICKSHA   MEN 

Going  into  the  theater  one  winter  evening  a  foreigner  told 
his  ricksha  man  to  wait  for  him.  When  he  came  out  a  few  hours 
later,  he  found  the  man  faithfully  waiting  but  frozen  to  death. 
His  padded  coat  had  not  been  enough  to  protect  him  from  the 
cold  and  there  was  no  place  where  he  could  go  for  shelter. 
Moved  by  this  experience,  a  group  of  Chinese  and  foreigners, 
early  in  1916,  organized  a  relief  association  and  by  means  of  a 
benefit  theatrical  performance  raised  the  money  needed  to  build 
and  maintain  a  series  of  shelters  where  the  ricksha  men  could 
go  to  get  warm,  where  they  could  find  hot  water  to  drink  and 
have  a  chance  to  dry  their  perspiration  soaked  garments. 

These  shelters,  built  on  government  property  on  the  edge 
of  the  highways,  are  plain,  one-story  frame  buildings  with  a 
concrete  floor  and  a  lime  roof.  Benches  are  built  along  the  walls, 
and  there  are  windows  on  all  four  sides  so  that  the  men  may 
be  able  to  watch  their  rickshas  while  they  are  getting  warm. 
An  unprotected  ricksha  is  a  great  temptation  to  many  men  and 
the  loss  of  one  is  a  tragedy  for  the  man  who  is  renting  it,  as  it 
means  the  loss  of  his  livelihood.  It  costs  about  $250  to  build 
one  of  the  shelters  and  about  $100  to  run  it  for  a  year.  Old 
ricksha  men,  or  those  who  are  crippled,  look  after  the  shelters, 
take  care  of  the  fire  and  keep  up  the  supply  of  hot  water. 

When  the  work  was  first  started,  the  funds  were  sufficient 
to  establish  only  three  centers,  but  the  first  experiments  have 
been  so  successful  and  the  funds  secured  by  the  annual  benefit 
performance  have  increased,  so  additional  shelters  have  been 
opened  until  now  there  are  nine  scattered  throughout  the  city. 
Even  these  are  pitifully  few  considering  the  fact  that  there  are 
some  30,000  ricksha  coolies  in  the  city. 

Those  who  are  used  to  the  comfort  of  warm  homes  often 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY 

wonder  how  the  ricksha  men  survive  the  cold  of  the  Peking 
winters.  Even  though  the  thermometer  is  below  freezing  for 
at  least  two  months  of  the  year  and  often  goes  down  to  zero, 
the  men  have  but  little  clothing  to  keep  them  warm,  at  best  a 
single  padded  coat,  and  they  are  first  overheated  by  their  running 
and  then  have  to  stop  and  wait  in  the  cold. 

With  its  hard  working  conditions,  low  income,  comparatively 
short  working  life,  averaging  less  than  five  years,  and  the  large 
number  of  men  engaged  in  it,  the  trade  of  the  ricksha  man  is 
one  of  the  big  problems  of  the  Chinese  cities.  It  takes  one 
coolie  to  pull  one  passenger,  making  an  expensive  form  of  trans- 
portation. The  constant  running  is  hard  on  the  men,  uses  up 
their  best  strength  in  a  few  years  and  leaves  them  untrained, 
without  any  industrial  opportunities,  a  burden  on  their  families 
or  on  the  community. 

In  spite  of  their  hard  life  the  Peking  ricksha  coolies  are  noted 
for  the  fact  that  they  take  things  with  a  smile.  They  are  good- 
natured  in  their  competition  for  business  and  are  always  ready 
to  get  a  laugh  out  of  the  life  around  them.  Even  though  an 
older  man  is  unable  to  keep  up  with  a  younger  one  and  is  dis- 
missed because  of  his  lack  of  speed,  he  takes  it  with  a  smile 
even  though  it  may  be  a  wistful  one. 

SHAN  T'ANG 

The  Shan  T'ang  are  private  charitable  associations  that  are 
supported  by  the  contributions  of  their  members.  Most  of  their 
work  is  outdoor  relief,  though  some  indoor  relief  is  given  to  a 
few  people  who  are  allowed  to  live  in  the  buildings  belonging 
to  the  association. 

It  was  impossible  to  secure  any  detailed  report  of  the  work 
of  these  associations,  but  from  appearances  they  were  not  very 
active  and  the  work  of  one  or  two  of  them  seemed  to  have  been 
taken  over  by  the  police. 

INSTITUTIONAL  RELIEF 

Indoor  relief  is  given  to  a  certain  extent  to  practically  all 
of  the  needy  classes  in  Peking.  There  are  institutions  (see  map 
of  philanthropic  institutions)  that  care  for  the  foundlings  and 
orphans,  give  industrial  training  to  boys  and  girls,  provide  work 
for  those  who  are  unable  to  find  employment,  give  the  poor  a 
place  where  they  can  find  food  and  lodging,  and  provide  shelter 
for  the  aged  destitute.  The  need,  however,  is  so  much  greater 
than  the  relief  given  that  these  institutions  stand  as  experiments, 
or  perhaps  rather  as  examples  of  the  different  kinds  of  relief 


284 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


PHILANTHROPIC  AND  REFORM  INSTITUTIONS 
.Old  Peoples  Home  -  5  F  -  Chou  Ch'ang- 12  o  -  Poorhouse 


Foundlings  Home  - 1 
Shan  T'ang   -  6 
Door  of  Hope  - 1 
Social  Service  Club  - 1 


H  -  Hospital  -  46 
i  -  Insane  Asylum  - 1 
o  -  Orphanage  -  2 
p  -  Prison  -  13 

Figure  22 


R  -  Reform  School  -  4 
s  -  Industrial  School  -  2 
x  -  Rjcksha  Sheltei  •  9 


that  have  been  developed  by  the  Chinese.  The  older  ones  show 
the  type  of  relief  given  under  purely  Chinese  conditions,  while 
some  of  the  more  recently  established  ones,  particularly  those 
connected  with  mission  and  foreign  influences,  show  what  can 
be  done  when  western  experience  is  applied  in  China.  As  the 
institutions  are  all  so  different,  they  have  been  described  in 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  285 

considerable  detail  with  the  hope  of  giving  a  picture  of  Chinese 
institutional  life  and  indicating  the  possibilities  of  its  develop- 
ment. 

THE  FOUNDLINGS'  HOME 

One  of  the  busiest  places  in  Peking  is  the  Foundlings*  Home 
at  meal  time,  for  there  96  babies  all  want  to  be  fed  at  once. 
And  the  noise  is  concentrated,  for  the  babies  are  all  kept  in  one 
big  courtyard  during  the  warm  summer  days.  On  one  sicle 
under  the  shadow  of  a  high  straw  mat  p'eng  are  rows  of  cribs 
for  the  youngest,  while  on  the  other  side  of  the  court  the  older 
children  play  about  or  sit  in  a  long  row  waiting  for  their  food. 
Moving  around  among  the  cribs  are  a  large  number  of  amahs 
or  nurses,  all  busy  trying  to  keep  the  flies  away  from  the  babies. 
The  buildings  of  the  Home  are  carefully  screened;  but  when 
the  children  .are  out  in  the  courtyard  the  only  protection  they 
have  from  the  flies  is  the  long  horse-hair  brushes  that  the  amahs 
keep  waving  over  the  cribs.  With  a  lot  of  the  babies  crying  at 
the  same  time,  with  the  smaller  children  running  around,  and 
with  the  constant  waving  of  the  brushes,  the  courtyard  is  full  of 
movement  and  life. 

The  Foundlings'  Home  was  established,  or  rather  taken  over 
from  private  management,  by  the  police  and  the  Municipal 
Council  in  1917  so  that  they  might  have  some  place  to  care  for 
children  whose  parents  wanted  to  get  rid  of  them  and  who  would 
probably  be  done  away  with  if  there  were  no  institution  to  take 
them.  Consequently,  any  child  brought  to  the  Home  is  received, 
though  the  regulations  provide  that  they  should  not  be  over 
three  years  of  age. 

The  Home  was  first  located  outside  of  the  Hatamen  but  later 
was  moved  to  the  Hou  Men  Ta  Chieh,  just  outside  of  the  north 
wall  of  the  Imperial  City. 

During  the  fiscal  year  ending  April  30,  1918,  130  babies  were 
given  to  the  Home.  Of  these  in  were  girls  and  only  19  were 
boys.  This  great  preponderance  of  girls  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  as  the  Chinese  will  keep  their  boys  if  there  is  any  possible 
way  to  do  so.  Of  the  130,  25  were  one  year  old,  71  two  years  old, 
23  three  years  old,  and  1 1  were  received  who  were  four  years  old. 

In  1918  it  was  reported  that  there  was  a  tremendous  death 
rate  among  the  infants  cared  for  by  the  Home.  One  story  even 
stated  that  195  out  of  196  had  died  during  the  year.  The  police 
appealed  for  help  to  Countess  Ahlefeld,  the  wife  of  the  Danish 
Minister  to  China,  and  agreed  to  give  her  a  free  hand  in  running 
the  institution.  She  and  a  number  of  the  foreign  ladies  living  in 
Peking  took  up  the  work  and,  with  the  cooperation  of  the  Chinese 
board  of  directors,  gradually  changed  things  until  the  buildings 


286  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

are  kept  clean,  the  windows  and  doors  are  all  screened,  and 
the  flies  kept  out ;  Chinese  doctors  trained  in  foreign  medicine 
look  after  the  children,  and  five  specially  trained  nurses  super- 
vise the  care  of  the  babies,  and  the  work  of  the  39  amahs.  In 
spite  of  good  care  and  the  improved  physical  environment  over 
100  babies  died  last  year. 

The  rules  for  the  feeding  of  the  children  state  that  those 
who  are  one  year  old  are  fed  entirely  with  milk,  those  who  are 
over  one  and  less  than  two  years  of  age  are  given  milk  and 
cake,  those  between  two  and  three  years  of  age  have  congee, 
(rice-gruel),  milk  and  cake,  while  those  over  three  have  no  milk 
and  cake  but  eat  the  regular  food  at  the  ordinary  times.  Wet 
nurses  are  provided  for  the  infants  but  each  is  required  to  feed 
three  children. 

All  of  the  foundlings  are  vaccinated  three  times.  If  they  are 
given  to  the  Home  when  they  are  very  young,  it  is  done  when 
they  are  six  months  old,  again  when  they  are  a  year  and  a  half 
old,  and  a  third  time  when  they  are  three  years  old.  In  case 
of  death  the  police  must  be  notified  so  that  they  may  examine 
the  body  before  burial. 

Although  none  of  the  children  are  now  old  enough  to  go 
to  school  it  is  planned  that  a  school  and  an  industrial  depart- 
ment shall  be  established  for  them  later  on,  as  they  must  remain 
in  the  Home  until  they  are  eighteen  years  of  age.  Parents  are 
allowed  to  take  a  child  out  of  the  institution  only  if  they  can 
furnish  a  satisfactory  guarantee  that  ^they  are  able  to  care 
for  if. 

The  expenses  of  the  institution  amount  to  between  $10,000 
and  $12,000  silver  a  year.  This  is  met  by  contributions  from  the 
police,  the  Municipal  Council,  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior  and 
private  sources.  The  report  for  the  year  ending  April  30,  1918, 
showed  a  total  income  of  $39,006.48,  counting  at  par  the  depre- 
ciated bank  notes.  Of  this  amount  $10,106  was  contributed  by 
individuals,  $18,093  was  given  by  the  Police  Board  and  $4,000 
came  from  the  Municipal  Council.  Special  theater  contributions 
for  extra  food  for  the  babies  amounted  to  1,038  tiao  ($74 
silver).  A  total  of  $25,138.33  of  depreciated  bank  notes  was 
spent  during  the  year,  leaving  on  hand  a  balance  of  $13,866,  of 
which  $1,000  was  invested  in  a  weaving  factory  and  $500  in 
shares  of  the  Peking  Water  Company.  The  police  and  the 
Municipal  Council  keep  track  of  the  income  and  expenditures 
of  the  institution  by  requiring  that  monthly  reports  be  filed  with 
them  for  their  approval. 

Up  to  the  present  the  results  secured  hardly  seem  to  justify 
the  expenditure  of  the  amount  of  money  that  has  been  used. 

A  second  visit  to  the  Home  three  months  after  writing  the 


THE  FOUNDLINGS'  HOME. 

Inmates  of  "The   Busiest  Place  in  Peking."     Of  the   130  babies  received  during 
one    year    only    19    were    boys. 


THE   FIVE   NATIONS   POORHOUSE. 

An  Industrial  School  supported  by  the  work  of  the  inmates  and  funds  sup- 
plied by  the  sale  of  two-copper  benefit  tickets  at  one  of  the  big  theatres. 
Working  as  they  must  below  ground  and  in  a  hot,  damp  atmosphere  and 
sleeping  without  bedding  it  is  little  wonder  the  boys  have  bad  eyes  and  heads. 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING. 

Both    the    Buddhist    and    Peking    Orphanages    give    their    inmates    industrial 
well   as    school   training. 


INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING;   SHOP  PRACTICE. 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  287 

above  report  showed  that  the  organization  and  system  of  care 
that  had  been  developed  under  the  supervision  of  the  foreign 
ladies  was  rapidly  breaking  up.  The  ladies  had  never  had  any 
direct  control  over  the  finances  of  the  institution.  The  Countess 
Ahlefeld  had  gone  home,  and,  while  the  others  interested  in  the 
work  were  away  for  the  summer,  those  in  charge  of  the  finances 
had  made  changes  in  the  staff  by  the  very  convenient  method  of 
paying  salaries  in  Bank  of  China  or  Bank  of  Communications 
notes,  instead  of  silver.  As  the  notes  are  worth  only  about  50 
cents  in  silver,  the  trained  nurses  have  been  unwilling  to  accept 
them  and  have  left,  careful  supervision  has  ceased,  and  the  old 
conditions  with  the  attendant  flies  and  dirt  are  rapidly  returning. 
It  is  just  one  more  experience  that  shows  the  difficulty  of 
Chinese  and  foreign  cooperation  in  charitable  enterprises  when 
the  control  of  the  finances  is  left  entirely  in  the  Chinese  hands. 

ORPHANAGES 

Although  the  care  of  orphans  has  always  been  considered 
by  the  Chinese  a  worthy  form  of  charity,  Peking  has  only  two 
such  institutions,  one  in  the  North  City  and  one  in  the  South 
City.  Both  are  private  institutions  but  are  receiving  contribu- 
tions from  various  official  boards. 

The  P'in  Er  Yuan  or  Peking  Orphanage,  located  almost  in 
the  shadow  of  the  north  wall  of  the  North  City,  is  on  Chien  Fu 
Ssu  Hut'ung  next  door  to  the  North  City  poorhouse.  There  on 
about  five  "mow"  of  land  (%  of  an  acre)  it  is  caring  for 
some  92  children,  50  boys  and  42  girls. 

The  Orphanage  was  first  opened  in  1912  by  Mr.  Ts'ang  Yu 
Chen  of  Tientsin,  who  wanted  to  provide  a  home  for  some  of 
the  children  who  lost  their  parents  in  the  fighting  incident  to 
the  Revolution.  After  a  few  years,  Mr.  Ts'ang  found  that  he 
was  unable  to  support  the  home  alone,  and  so  appealed  to  his 
friends  for  help  and  transferred  the  management  to  a  board 
of  directors,  to  be  elected  from  those  who  contribute  to  the 
institution.  At  the  present  time,  this  board  has  among  its  mem- 
bers several  American  returned  students  (Chinese  who  have 
studied  in  America)  and  one  or  two  foreigners.  Representa- 
tives of  practically  all  the  religious  faiths  in  Peking  are  found 
on  the  board,  Confucianists,  Buddhists,  Mohammedans,  Roman 
Catholics  and  Protestants.  A  woman's  auxiliary  board  assists 
the  directors  in  the  management  of  the  home. 

Any  child  whose  family  is  unable  to  care  for  it  will  be 
admitted  by  the  orphanage,  provided  it  is  accepted  by  the  board 
of  directors  after  they  have  investigated  the  case.  Children  are 
ustiajly  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  board  by  some  private  indi- 


288  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

vidual,  but  the  police  also  refer  to  it  any  cases  they  feel  are 
particularly  worthy.  At  the  present  time  only  a  few  children 
are  being  admitted,  as  the  maximum  capacity  of  the  orphanage 
is  100.  Large  numbers  have  been  taken  in  by  the  orphanage 
at  three  different  times,  first  when  it  was  opened  in  1912,  second 
after  the  street  fighting  in  Peking  in  1913,  and  third  after  the 
Tientsin  flood  of  1917. 

The  detailed  management  of  the  orphanage  is  in  the  hands 
of  a  superintendent  and  two  assistants  who  are  appointed  by 
the  board  of  directors.  The  superintendent's  salary  is  $50  a 
month,  while  the  assistants  receive  $25  a  month  each.  One  of  the 
assistants  is  always  the  woman  who  is  in  charge  of  the  girls' 
department. 

The  buildings  are  of  the  usual  Chinese  style  and  at  present, 
because  of  the  lack  of  finances,  are  in  need  of  considerable  repair. 
Even  so,  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  buildings  is  excellent, 
everything  being  clean  and  well  cared  for. 

The  orphanage  gives  all  of  the  children  at  least  two  hours 
of  school  work  besides  five  hours  of  industrial  work  every  day 
except  Sunday.  The  boys  are  taught  carpentering  and  carpet 
making;  the  girls,  tailoring,  lace  making  and  cooking.  The 
teachers  in  charge  of  the  school  and  industrial  work  receive 
$12  and  $15  a  month,  except  in  the  lace  making  where  the  teach- 
ing is  done  by  one  of  the  girls. 

In  order  that  the  children  may  have  experience  in  the  routine 
household  duties,  most  of  the  work  of  the  orphanage  is  done  by 
the  inmates.  They  work  in  groups  and  in  rotation  each  group 
is  responsible  for  some  particular  task.  The  children  have 
to  keep  things  clean,  help  with  the  cooking,  wash  the  dishes, 
and  even  wash  their  own  clothes  if  they  are  old  enough.  They 
are  given  baths  once  a  week  during  the  winter  and  every  day 
in  summer,  and  the  sick  are  sent  to  the  nearby  mission  hospital 
where  they  receive  foreign  medical  treatment. 

Special  attention  is  given  to  the  recreation  of  the  children. 
They  are  free  from  10 130  to  12  every  day,  and  also  from  7  to  8 
in  the  evening.  There  is  a  large  playground  in  daily  use,  and 
volunteer  workers  from  some  of  the  schools  of  the  city  have 
assisted  in  directing  the  children's  play.  Every  summer  the 
children  are  given  a  trip  to  Wo  Fo  Ssu,  one  of  the  temples 
in  the  Western  Hills  about  ten  miles  from  Peking,  where  they 
have  an  opportunity  to  climb  hills  and  learn  something  of  life 
in  the  country. 

Christian  services  are  held  every  Sunday  under  the  leader- 
ship of  a  student  volunteer  from  Tsing  Hua,  the  American 
Indemnity  College,  and  a  Y.W.C.A.  has  been  organized  among 
the  girls. 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  289 

Raising  the  funds  for  the  institution  has  been  a  considerable 
task  as  the  annual  budget  amounts  to  about  $7,500  a  year. 
On  several  occasions  the  board  of  directors  has  been  tempted 
to  turn  the  institution  over  to  the  police,  but  each  time  has  been 
successful  in  raising  the  needed  money.  During  1919  a  special 
campaign  was  carried  on  and  over  $12,000  was  raised  from 
Chinese  sources.  At  the  present  time  the  orphanage  is  given 
some  help  from  official  sources.  The  Peking-Mukden,  Peking- 
Suiyuan,  Peking-Hankow  and  Tientsin-Pukow  Railroads  are 
purchasing  advertising  space  in  a  small  paper  published  by  the 
institution,  to  the  extent  of  $400  a  month. 

Only  a  few  children  have  reached  the  age  limit  of  18  and 
have  left  the  orphanage,  but  these  few  have  demonstrated  that 
the  training  that  has  been  given  them  has  fitted  them  for  self- 
support.  One  of  the  girls  is  now  teaching  lace  making  and 
earning  $20  a  month,  a  large  salary  for  a  woman. 

The  home  is  a  good  demonstration  of  what  can  be  done  in 
the  care  of  orphan  children  by  means  of  cleanliness,  education 
and  industrial  training,  even  with  a  small  budget  and  simple 
material  equipment. 

The  orphanage  in  the  South  City  is  next  to  the  Lung  Ch'uan 
Ssu,  a  Buddhist  Temple,  and  is  run  by  the  temple  priests.  It  is 
caring  for  some  250  boys  who  are  full  orphans  or  have  only  a 
mother  living,  and  whose  relatives  are  unable  to  care  for  them. 
It  admits  only  boys  who  are  under  12  years  of  age  and  their 
good  behavior  must  be  guaranteed  by  some  shop  or  friend  of 
the  family.  Once  admitted,  the  boys  can  stay  apparently  as 
long  as  they  want  to,  as  some  37  of  the  inmates  are  over  19 
years  of  age.  These,  however,  are  simply  given  a  home  and 
must  earn  their  living  either  by  working  in  the  orphanage  or 
finding  work  outside. 

All  of  the  boys  are  given  school  work,  industrial  training 
and  a  daily  lecture  of  an  hour  on  religious  subjects.  Twelve 
boys  are  in  the  Higher  Primary,  five  are  in  the  Middle  School 
and  one  is  even  attending  the  University.  Printing,  tailoring, 
carpentering,  dyeing,  shoemaking,  weaving  and  mat  making  are  the 
industries  taught. 

The  boys  live  in  dormitories,  18  in  a  three  "chien"  room 
12x30  feet.  They  all  sleep  on  one  long  k'ang  or  built-in  bed 
that  runs  the  full  length  of  the  room.  They  are  given  three  meals 
a  day  rather  than  the  two  customary  in  most  of  the  government 
institutions. 

The  budget  of  the  institution  amounts  to  practically  $10,000 
a  year.  It  is  met  principally  by  individual  contributions  made 
to  the  temple,  but  some  official  funds  are  supplied.  The  Munici- 
pal Council  contributes  $i  a  month,  the  Local  Board  of  Educa- 


290  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

tion  $5  a  month,  while  the  police  furnish  $60  worth  of  rice  each 
month.  The  Five  Saints  Nunnery  gives  $20  a  month. 

As  far  as  could  be  seen,  the  institution  is  well  managed,  the 
boys  are  well  cared  for  and  are  given  good  school  and  industrial 
training.  They  certainly  are  turning  out  a  very  creditable  type 
of  work. 

A  big  combination  orphanage  and  industrial  school  is  being 
built  near  the  old  Imperial  Hunting  Park  in  the  Western  Hills 
by  Mr.  Hsiung  Hsi  Ling,  as  part  of  the  relief  work  for  the 
flood  sufferers  of  1917.  Fine,  modern,  brick  buildings  are  being 
erected  for  the  workshops  and  dormitories,  and  are  so  planned 
that  both  boys  and  girls  can  be  cared  for.  When  finished,  the 
institution  will  be  able  to  accommodate  some  fifteen  hundred 
inmates,  and  will  make  it  possible  to  care  for  many  of  the  needy 
cases  that  cannot  be  helped  at  present,  because  of  the  lack  of 
available  room. 

THE   BOYS'    INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOL 

The  Hsi  I  So  or  Boys'  Industrial  School  was  established  by 
the  Judiciary  Department  of  the  Empire  in  order  that  care  and 
training  might  be  given  to  some  of  the  poor  boys  of  the  city. 
Under  the  Republic  the  school  was  first  taken  over  by  the 
Ministry  of  the  Interior,  but  in  April,  1917,  it  was  intrusted  to 
the  police  as  it  was  closely  connected  with  their  work. 

The  school  provides  a  home,  teaching  and  work  for  between 
six  hundred  and  fifty  and  seven  hundred  boys.  At  present  there 
are  660  inmates.  Any  boy  in  the  city  between  eight  and  sixteen 
years  of  age  is  eligible  for  admission,  provided  his  case  is  brought 
to  the  notice  of  the  police  and  approved  by  them  after  they  have 
made  an  investigation  of  his  record,  his  home  and  his  family. 
Homeless  boys  can  be  sent  to  the  school  only  when  they  are 
willing  to  go.  Once  admitted  to  the  school  a  boy  must  remain 
there  until  he  is  eighteen  years  of  age,  unless  his  family  are 
able  to  care  for  him  and  desire  to  take  him  out  of  the  institution, 
or  unless  the  boy  himself  desires  to  be  returned  to  the  police. 
On  reaching  the  age  of  eighteen  the  boys  are  discharged,  but, 
instead  of  being  turned  adrift,  are  sent  to  the  head  of  the  police 
district  that  sent  them  to  the  school.  The  police  find  work  for 
them  and  so  enable  them  to  start  life  outside  the  institution  with 
a  job.  This  part  of  the  school  work  is  particularly  important  in 
China,  for  without  the  police  backing  it  would  be  very  difficult 
for  the  boys  to  find  employment  as  they  would  not  be  able  to 
get  any  one  to  act  as  their  guarantor. 

School  work  equivalent  to  the  higher  and  lower  primary 
grades  is  provided  for  the  younger  boys.  At  present,  170  of  the 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  291 

660  inmates  are  attending  school.  They  are  given  five  hours  of 
instruction  a  day.  The  teaching  is  done  by  four  men,  all  Middle 
School  graduates,  two  of  whom  receive  $20  a  month  and  two  $25. 

Work  is  provided  for  those  who  do  not  attend  school.  Nine 
different  trades  are  taught :  carpentry,  printing,  paper-making, 
soap-making,  rug-weaving,  tailoring,  thread-spinning,  cloth- 
weaving  and  the  weaving  of  tai-tzu,  or  the  bands  with  which 
the  Chinese  bind  the  bottoms  of  their  trousers.  The  boys  are 
required  to  work  from  7  to  n  and  from  I  to  5,  seven  days  in 
the  week.  In  some  of  the  departments,  particularly  the  printing 
and  weaving  departments,  night  work  from  7  to  n  is  required 
if  the  school  has  received  sufficient  orders  for  work.  The  boys 
are  paid  somewhat  according  to  the  amount  and  quality  of  the 
work  that  they  do.  The  smallest  wage  is  20  coppers  a  month, 
and  the  highest  possible  is  60  coppers  a  month.  Part  of  this 
money  is  sent  to  the  boys'  homes,  and  they  themselves  are  allowed 
to  spend  part. 

Some  thirty  of  the  boys  are  given  training  in  Chinese  music, 
and,  together  with  64  who  are  trained  in  dancing,  take  part  in 
the  semi-annual  worship  of  Confucius  at  the  Confucian  temple. 

A  large  playground,  equipped  with  swings,  horizontal  bars, 
horses  and  football  goals,  is  provided  but,  so  far  as  could  be 
seen  on  two  visits,  practically  no  use  is  made  of  it,  at  least  during 
the  winter  months.  The  manager  of  the  school  said  that  drill 
under  the  direction  of  the  police  officers  was  required  of  all 
the  boys  in  warm  weather,  but  was  not  required  during  the 
winter.  The  boys  are  supposed  to  use  their  leisure  time  in  the 
evenings  and  during  vacation  days  in  talking  or  walking  around 
the  grounds.  On  visiting  the  school  during  the  New  Year  vaca- 
tion, a  group  of  between  sixty  and  eighty  boys  were  seen  sitting 
around  a  table  in  the  dining  room,  waiting  for  an  hour  and  a 
half  to  go  by  before  their  supper.  In  the  meantime,  the  play- 
ground just  outside  showed  not  a  single  footprint. 

Punishments  for  breaking  the  rules  of  the  school  are  admin- 
istered by  the  teachers.  For  minor  offenses,  a  boy  is  made  to 
stand  in  a  corner  or  to  kneel  down  for  one  or  two  hours.  More 
serious  infractions  are  punished  by  whipping  on  the  hand  or 
by  confinement  in  a  dark  room.  The  boys  that  show  signs  of 
incorrigibility  are  dismissed  from  the  institution,  but  may  return, 
provided  they  can  furnish  guarantees  for  future  good  conduct. 
On  the  whole,  the  discipline  is  not  a  serious  problem,  as  the  boys, 
because  of  their  experience  with  life  outside  the  school,  seem 
tractable  and  not  liable  to  make  trouble.  One  of  the  officers 
remarked  that  none  of  the  boys  ever  had  to  be  sent  away  from 
the  school,  because  poor  boys  are  always  very  easy  to  man- 
age. 


292  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

The  buildings  of  the  school  are  of  Chinese  and  semi-foreign 
architecture.  The  dormitories  and  workshops  are  large,  well- 
lighted  and,  for  the  most  part,  well  ventilated.  The  workshops, 
a  series  of  five  parallel  buildings,  have  been  built  within  the  last 
three  years  and  make  a  valuable  addition  because  of  the  better 
working  conditions  and  the  extra  amount  of  room  that  is  pro- 
vided. Two  large  dormitories  with  four  42  x  45  foot  rooms 
each,  with  a  k'ang  or  brick  bed  built  in  on  two  sides  of  each 
room,  make  it  possible  to  care  for  over  600  boys  and  give  them 
sufficient  sleeping  space.  The  boys  are  under  night  supervision, 
as  police  officers  are  constantly  on  watch. 

The  food  given  the  boys  is  of  the  most  simple  kind.  Two 
meals  a  day  are  served,  and  millet,  vegetable  soup  and  salt 
vegetables  are  the  principal  dishes.  The  cost  per  person  averages 
$2  a  month,  but  all  appear  to  be  well  fed. 

Electric  lights  are  used  in  the  dormitories  and  workrooms, 
but  the  light  in  the  shops  is  not  sufficient  to  give  proper  light  for 
night  work  or  for  work  on  winter  evenings. 

Small  foreign  stoves  are  used  in  each  of  the  dormitories  but 
are  not  large  enough  to  do  more  than  give  the  boys  a  chance  to 
warm  their  hands.  Small  stoves  are  also  provided  in  the  work- 
rooms but  no  attempt  is  made  really  to  heat  the  rooms.  The 
boys  seemed  to  feel  the  cold  very  much,  both  in  the  dormitories 
and  in  the  shops,  and  complained  a  bit  that  their  clothing  was 
insufficient. 

Both  foreign  and  Chinese  medicine  are  said  to  be  given  the 
boys  who  are  sick,  and  a  doctor  is  in  daily  attendance.  A  "sick 
room"  has  been  fitted  up  so  that  those  who  are  ill  may  be 
segregated,  but  we  were  told  at  the  time  of  our  visit  that  the 
room  was  empty  as  none  of  the  660  boys  were  sick.  The  health 
of  the  boys  and  the  medical  care  might  well  be  improved,  for 
trachoma  was  found  to  be  running  riot  and  proper  precautions 
were  not  taken  to  prevent  the  spread  of  the  disease. 

The  boys  are  given  a  bath  once  a  week  and  their  heads  are 
shaved  every  ten  days.  Hot  water  is  supplied  at  meal  times, 
but  not  in  generous  quantities. 

The  manager  of  the  school  is  appointed  by  the  city  police 
and  is  responsible  to  them  for  the  conduct  of  the  institution.  He 
is  in  entire  charge  and  engages  and  dismisses  all  officers  and 
teachers.  His  salary  is  $200  a  month,  while  20  teachers  and 
officers  working  with  him  are  paid  from  $20  to  $160  a  month. 
Forty  police  officers  are  furnished  by  the  Police  Board  to  look 
after  the  general  conduct  of  the  boys. 

The  total  expenses  of  the  school  amount  to  $3,000  a  montht 
salaries  $1,000  and  food,  clothing  and  supplies,  $2,000.  Any 
money  needed  over  and  above  that  derived  from  the  sale  of  the 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY 

products  of  the  workshops   of  the   school   is  supplied  by  the 
police. 

On  the  whole,  the  Industrial  School  is  doing  very  good  work. 
The  boys  are  given  better  living  quarters  and  conditions  than 
they  would  have  if  they  were  living  at  home  and  trying  to  get 
a  precarious  living  by  begging  and  doing  odd  jobs,  and  they 
are  given  an  industrial  training  that  fits  them  for  taking  up 
regular  work  when  they  leave  the  school.  With  better  care  in 
the  matter  of  health,  and  with  better  recreation,  the  school  would 
be  fulfilling  its  function  well,  and  could  be  said  to  be  a  model 
institution. 

THE  GIRLS'    INDUSTRIAL   HOME 

This  is  the  only  school  that  makes  a  specialty  of  industrial 
work  for  girls.  It  was  founded  ten  years  ago  as  a  private  charity 
by  a  'Mrs.  Sung,  and  she  has  carried  it,  for  the  most  part,  with 
her  own  resources.  The  failure  in  1913  of  a  bank,  in  which  the 
funds  devoted  to  the  school  were  deposited,  has  made  it  hard 
to  carry  on  the  work  in  recent  years,  and  now  Mrs.  Sung  is 
anxious  to  find  some  one  who  will  take  over  the  school,  and  let 
her  retire.  At  present  there  are  40  pupils  of  various  ages  attend- 
ing the  school.  The  older  ones  pay  $i  a  month  for  tuition 
and  the  younger  ones  50  cents.  One-half  of  each  day  is  spent 
in  study  and  the  other  half  on  embroidery.  The  work  done  by 
the  students  belongs  to  the  school  and  its  sale  makes  a  small 
addition  to  the  school  income.  The  length  of  the  course  depends 
almost  entirely  upon  the  age  of  the  students,  but  two  years  is 
the  minimum.  After  the  students  have  graduated,  Mrs.  Sung 
is  glad  to  have  them  come  back  to  the  school  and  continue  their 
embroidery  work.  The  graduates  are  charged  no  tuition. 

The  present  expenditure  of  the  school  amounts  to  $180  a 
month,  which  includes  the  salaries  of  six  teachers  and  the  rent 
for  the  school  buildings. 

An  embroidered  picture  of  President  Wilson  was  sent  to 
the  Panama  Pacific  International  Exposition  in  San  Francisco 
and  there  took  first  prize  for  such  work.  The  picture  was  the 
result  of  six  months'  work  and  is  so  fine  in  its  detail  that  Mrs. 
Sung  refuses  to  have  it  framed  as  she  is  compelled  to  demon- 
strate that  all  the  work  has  been  done  with  needle  and  thread. 
A  companion  picture  of  President  Yuan  Shih  K'ai  was  sent  to 
him  and  in  return  he  presented  two  dresses  to  the  girl  who  had 
made  it  and  also  gave  $1,000  to  the  school. 


294  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


CHRISTIAN    HOME   FOR   CRIPPLED   CHILDREN 

The  Christian  Home  for  Crippled  Children  is  an  experiment 
in  private  philanthropy.  A  graduate  of  the  Mission  College  at 
T'ung  Hsien  has  opened  the  home  and  is  depending  upon  personal 
and  church  subscriptions  for  its  support.  It  is  at  present  caring 
for  eight  boys  and  nine  girls,  and,  besides  giving  them  religious 
and  educational  training,  is  teaching  them  to  make  shoes.  As 
the  Home  was  only  opened  in  1918,  we  cannot  tell  how  much  of 
a  success  it  will  be,  but  as  it  is  the  only  institution  that  is  making 
any  attempt  to  care  for  those  who  are  crippled,  it  should  find  a 
place  in  the  philanthropic  work  of  the  city. 


KUNG   CH  ANG 

In  order  that  some  of  those  who  are  in  need  may  be  given 
relief  and  not  be  pauperized  at  the  same  time,  Kung  Ch'ang 
or  workshops  are  often  opened  where  the  needy  may  be  given 
employment.  The  wages  paid  are  based  not  on  the  economic 
value  of  the  work  done  but  on  the  amount  that  is  needed  to 
support  a  family.  When  women  are  employed  in  the  Kung 
Ch'ang,  the  work  is  usually  the  making  of  clothes  that  can  later 
be  given  away  to  others  who  are  in  need.  When  men  are  being 
helped,  the  work  is  ordinarily  planned  so  that  the  products  of 
the  Kung  Ch'ang  can  be  sold.  Some  spin  thread  while  others 
make  straw  braid,  matchboxes,  etc. 

Usually  the  Kung  Ch'ang  are  privately  run  and  care  for 
only  a  few  tens  of  persons,  as  it  is  only  when  large  numbers 
are  in  need  that  the  Government  organizes  relief  work  and 
employs  men  on  public  improvements,  the  building  of  new  roads, 
railroads,  dykes,  etc.  In  1917-18,  several  thousand  men  were 
employed  in  building  a  macadam  road  from  Peking  to  T'ung 
Hsien,  fifteen  miles  to  the  east,  and  on  a  road  west  of  the  Summer 
Palace.  The  funds  for  this  work  were  supplied  by  the  Chinese 
Red  Cross,  the  American  Red  Cross  and  the  National  Govern- 
ment. 

There  is  one  government  Kung  Ch'ang  in  Peking.  This  is 
located  on  Morrison  Street  or  Wang  Fu  Ching  Ta  Chieh  and  is 
a  combination  cloth  factory  and  relief  agency  for  needy  Manchus. 
It  was  established  some  thirty  years  ago.  The  men  are  paid 
regular  wages  after  they  have  served  a  three  years'  apprentice- 
ship. At  present,  this  amounts  to  $4  a  month  besides  room 
and  board.  If  a  man  does  good  work  he  is  also  given  a  small 
bonus  at  the  end  of  each  month,  while  if  he  spoils  any  cloth  he 
is  fined  for  the  damage.  A  posted  record  showed  that  the 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  295 

bonuses  of  the  men  varied  from  15  to  65  cents  a  month,  while 
the  apprentices  received  from  10  to  25  cents. 

The  boys  who  are  to  be  trained  as  apprentices  are  secured 
by  advertising,  but  they  are  accepted  only  after  their  cases  have 
been  carefully  investigated.  The  apprenticeship  training  con- 
sists of  the  customary  three  years,  and  during  that  time  the  boys 
are  all  required  to  live  on  the  premises.  The  regular  workmen 
are  permitted  to  live  in  the  factory  buildings  if  they  so  desire, 
and  quite  a  number  avail  themselves  of  this  privilege  as  they 
are  required  to  be  at  work  by  6  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  do 
not  finish  until  5  or  6  o'clock  in  the  evening,  according  to  the 
season  of  the  year. 

At  the  time  of  our  visit,  the  Kung  Ch'ang  was  employing 
some  1 60  men  and  boys  and  was  operating  60  looms.  The 
majority  of  the  looms  were  weaving  patterned  cloth  and  conse- 
quently were  operated  only  by  skilled  workers.  The  apprentices 
are  trained  on  foot  power  looms  with  which  they  weave  plain 
cloth.  The  winding  of  the  spindles  is  all  done  by  the  appren- 
tices. 

The  cloth  produced  by  the  Kung  Ch'ang  is  sold,  and  the  pro- 
ceeds are  used  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  institution. 
Whether  or  not  the  income  derived  from  the  sale  of  the  cloth 
was  sufficient  to  meet  the  running  expenses  of  the  factory  could 
not  be  learned  as  we  were  unable  to  get  in  touch  with  those  who 
are  responsible  for  the  financial  operation  of  the  institution,  but 
there  was  every  evidence  that  the  factory  could  be  operated  at 
a  profit. 

We  were  not  able  to  discover  just  how  many  private  Kung 
Ch'ang  there  were  in  the  city,  as  there  was  no  available  list 
of  them,  and  it  was  impossible  to  hunt  them  out.  The  number, 
however,  is  small,  probably  not  over  ten,  and  varies  from  year 
to  year  depending  upon  the  amount  of  destitution  in  the  city. 
At  most  only  a  few  hundred  men  and  women  will  be  cared  for. 

REFORM    SCHOOL 

The  Chao  Yang  Chu,  or  Reformatory,  is  a  combination 
industrial  school  for  100  misdemeanants  and  a  Kung  Ch'ang  for 
300  poor  men  and  boys.  All  those  who  are  sent  to  the  institu- 
tion by  court  order  are  guilty  of  only  minor  crimes,  as  none  of 
them  have  a  sentence  of  more  than  one  year.  The  poor  men  are 
admitted  only  if  they  have  been  recommended  by  the  police  and 
their  cases  investigated  and  approved.  When  they  are  at  work 
the  poor  men  and  the  misdemeanants  mingle  together;  but  they 
are  separated  during  their  free  time  and  they  sleep  in  separate 
quarters.  The  prisoners  all  wear  shackles  on  their  feet. 


296  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

The  men  are  taught  rope  making,  tailoring,  carpentry,  black- 
smithing  and  weaving,  some  50  looms  being  used  for  the  latter 
work.  The  poor  men  are  paid  for  their  work,  but  the  mis- 
demenants  are  given  only  their  food  and  clothes.  The  boys  wind- 
ing the  spindles,  the  men  weaving  cloth  and  those  working  in  the 
tailor  shop  are  all  paid  on  a  piece  work  basis ;  the  others  are  paid 
by  the  month.  The  wages  vary  from  $3  to  $6  a  month,  besides 
room,  board  and  clothes. 

Although  the  institution  was  opened  some  twenty  years  ago, 
it  is  only  in  the  last  few  years  that  the  inmates  have  been  given 
any  work.  The  police  took  over  the  control  when  Yuan 
Shih  K'ai  was  President,  and  since  then  have  installed  the  man- 
ual work  and  built  a  fine,  large,  well-lighted,  well-ventilated 
workshop  for  the  weaving  and  tailoring  departments.  Much  of 
the  work  of  the  other  departments  is  done  out  of  doors  in  the 
courtyards. 

Until  recently  the  living  quarters  have  left  much  to  be  desired, 
as  the  men  have  been  housed  in  ordinary  Chinese  buildings  and 
have  been  badly  crowded.  Now,  however,  a  new  dormitory  that 
will  accommodate  200  men  has  been  completed,  and  a  second  one 
is  being  erected.  These  buildings  are  125  feet  long,  30  feet 
wide  and  12  to  15  feet  high  at  the  eaves.  A  long  k'ang,  or 
built-in  bed,  runs  down  each  side  of  the  building,  while  in  the 
center  there  is  a  wooden  platform  raised  about  six  feet  above  the 
floor.  The  men  who  are  in  the  school  as  prisoners  sleep  on  the 
platform,  while  the  poor  men  occupy  the  k'ang.  Bedding  is 
supplied  for  all  the  inmates.  The  building  is  kept  very  clean, 
and  gives  the  best  dormitory  facilities  that  we  saw  in  any  in- 
stitution. Even  though  there  are  a  large  number  of  men  avail- 
able in  the  school,  the  dormitory  buildings  have  been  erected  by 
outside  labor.  For  recreation  the  poor  men  are  allowed  to  go  out 
into  the  city  every  Sunday. 

The  Nu  Hsi  I  So  and  the  Kan  Hua  So,  two  departments  of 
the  Door  of  Hope,  are  doing  a  similar  work  for  women,  the 
Nu  Hsi  I  So  supplying  industrial  work  for  some  127  dependent 
women,  and  the  Kan  Hua  So  caring  for  some  36  delinquent 
women,  sent  to  it  by  court  order.  A  further  description  of  these 
institutions  will  be  found  in  Chapter  X. 

FIVE    NATIONS    POORHOUSE 

The  Five  Nations  Poorhouse,  named  for  the  five  races  or 
groups  of  people  living  in  China,  the  Chinese,  the  Manchus,  the 
'Mongols,  the  Tibetans,  and  the  Mohammedans,  is  an  institution 
primarily  for  poor  boys,  though  a  number  of  poor  men  are  cared 
for  that  they  may  help  with  the  work  of  the  school.  The  70 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  297 

boys  and  20  men  are  living  in  an  old  temple,  where  the 
buildings  are  in  very  bad  repair  and  much  might  be  done  in  the 
matter  of  cleanliness.  The  inmates  are  badly  crowded  in  their 
sleeping  quarters;  but  under  the  circumstances  this  may  be  a 
blessing  in  winter  time,  for  although  a  good  supply  of  straw  is 
put  under  the  mat  on  top  of  the  k'ang,  no  comforters  or  quilts 
are  provided,  and  the  boys  have  to  depend  on  their  padded 
clothes  or  on  each  other  for  warmth. 

The  boys  are  given  no  school  work,  but  are  given  eight  to 
nine  hours'  work  a  day  weaving  suitcases,  baskets  and  water 
dippers  from  coarse  reeds  or  willows.  The  reeds  have  to  be 
kept  damp  while  they  are  being  worked,  and,  in  order  that  the 
proper  degree  of  moisture  may  be  maintained,  a  special  five 
"chien"  room  has  been  built,  partly  below  the  surface  of  the 
earth.  The  ceiling  is  just  high  enough  above  the  ground  to 
admit  a  row  of  windows  that  light  the  building.  What  ventila- 
tion there  is  comes  through  a  small  open  door.  The  70  boys 
all  work  in  this  damp,  close  room.  A  single  glance  showed  that 
the  eyes  and  heads  of  many  of  them  were  in  need  of  medical 
attention.  The  men  who  put  the  binding  and  finishing  touches  on 
the  baskets  work  in  some  of  the  temple  buildings  and  so  do  not 
lack  for  ventilation. 

The  funds  that  are  needed  for  the  school,  over  and  above  the 
amount  secured  from  the  sale  of  the  baskets,  etc.,  are  furnished 
by  one  of  the  big  theaters  of  the  city  through  the  sale  of  special 
benefit  tickets  for  two  coppers  apiece. 

What  with  the  poor  living  and  working  conditions,  the  poor- 
house  seems  to  be  a  scheme  whereby  the  boys  can  be  made  to 
work  for  their  room  and  board.  They  are  not  given  any  educa- 
tion; and  their  industrial  education  fits  them  only  for  basket 
weaving,  a  type  of  work  that  is  at  best  poorly  paid.  Even 
so,  the  boys  are  undoubtedly  better  off  than  they  would  be 
if  they  were  struggling  along  outside  of  any  institution.  It  would 
be  so  easy  to  make  improvements,  however,  that  one  wishes  the 
living  and  working  conditions  might  be  bettered,  and  the  boys 
be  given  some  education. 


THE   POORHOUSE 

If  one  can  imagine  40  men  living  in  a  two  "chien"  room 
which  measures  10x20  feet,  and  still  being  required  by  rule  to 
leave  half  of  the  floor  unoccupied,  he  can  get  some  idea  of  the 
conditions  under  which  the  men  in  the  Peking  poorhouses  have 
to  live  during  the  winter  when  the  homes  are  crowded. 

Looking  through  the  doorway  into  one  of  these  rooms,  one 


298  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

sees  two  men  sitting  at  a  Chinese  table,  and  nearby  a  Chinese 
stove  with  the  usual  steaming  kettle  on  top.  A  second  glance 
shows  that  half  of  the  room  is  occupied  by  a  wooden,  mat  cov- 
ered platform  that  is  built  on  a  level  with  the  window  sill.  Sev- 
eral men  will  be  seen  sitting  on  the  platform,  but  it  is  only  as 
the  eye  becomes  accustomed  to  the  light  that  it  will  be  possible 
to  see  that  men  are  also  sitting  on  the  floor  under  the  platform. 
Twenty  men  sleep  on  the  10  x  10  platform  and  another  20 
sleep  under  it.  With  these  crowded  conditions  there  is  really  not 
room  enough  for  all  the  men  to  lie  down  and  sleep  at  the  same 
time,  but  even  so  the  rules  seem  to  require  that  half  of  the  floor 
space  be  unoccupied.  Even  under  ordinary  conditions  there  are 
usually  15  men  living  in  each  "chien,"  a  space  10  x  10  or  xox  12 
feet. 

Peking  has  two  of  these  poorhouses  for  men,  one  in  the  North 
City  and  one  in  the  South  City.  They  care  for  some  of  the  poor 
of  the  city,  give  them  a  place  to  live  and  something  to  eat,  but  with- 
the  one  in  the  North  City  caring  for  from  600  to  1,000  men  and 
the  one  in  the  South  City  for  from  400  to  600,  the  two  institu- 
tions can  hardly  begin  to  care  for  those  who  are  really  in 
need. 

Men  are  admitted  to  the  homes  only  by  the  police,  who  took 
over  the  management  of  the  institutions  soon  after  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Republic  in  1912.  They  investigate  the  cases  that 
come  to  their  notice  and  admit  those  whom  they  deem  worthy 
and  for  whom  there  is  room. 

Once  in,  a  man  can  apparently  stay  as  long  as  he  wants  to, 
but  h.e  is  permitted  to  leave  at  any  time,  provided  he  desires  to 
make  an  attempt  at  self-support.  In  that  case,  he  must  sign  an 
application  for  release  in  which  he  states  that  he  will  not  beg  on 
the  streets  of  the  city.  If  he  lives  up  to  the  terms  of  his  release, 
and  finds  that  he  is  unable  to  support  himself,  the  police  will 
allow  him  to  return  to  the  poorhouse,  but  he  cannot  go  back  if 
he  is  found  begging.  Hard  as  the  life  in  the  poorhouse  may  be, 
it  is  so  much  better  than  that  of  a  beggar  that  once  a  man  has 
been  admitted  he  usually  stays,  or  if  he  goes  out  he  is  very  care- 
ful not  to  forfeit  his  right  to  return. 

Those  who  are  living  in  the  homes  are  supplied  with  both 
food  and  clothes.  The  clothes  are,  for  the  most  part,  discarded 
police  uniforms.  To  one  visiting  the  home  on  a  cold  winter  day, 
it  seems  as  though  these  were  not  sufficient  to  keep  the  inmates, 
many  of  whom  are  barely  nourished  and  in  poor  health,  as  warm 
as  they  ought  to  be.  The  food  consists  of  two  meals  a  day  of 
millet  and  salt  vegetables.  One  cattie  (1^3  pounds)  of  millet 
and  some  two  ounces  of  salt  vegetable  is  the  daily  allowance  for 
each  man.  The  inmates  are  permitted  to  vary  the  monotony  of 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  299 

this  diet  by  purchasing  fresh  vegetables  with  the  daily  allowance 
that  is  given  them  if  they  are  working. 

All  those  who  are  physically  able  are  expected  to  go  out  and 
work  every  day.  The  gangs  leave  the  poorhouse  about  8  o'clock 
in  the  morning  and  return  about  4  in  the  evening.  The  men  are 
employed  on  various  kinds  of  unskilled  work,  breaking  stone, 
moving  dirt,  repairing  roads  and  cleaning  sewers.  The  work  is 
absolutely  unskilled  and  gives  the  men  no  training.  The  principal 
thing  they  learn  is  to  do  as  little  work  as  possible  and  they  cer- 
tainly cannot  complain  of  overwork.  For  his  work  a  man  re- 
ceives 5  coppers  a  day,  unless  he  happens  to  be  a  foreman  in 
charge  of  a  gang  of  15  men;  in  that  case  he  receives  8  coppers 
a  day.  Of  the  600  inmates  of  the  North  City  Poorhouse  some  400 
were  out  working  at  the  time  of  our  visit ;  the  other  200  were  either 
too  old  or  too  sick  to  work,  and  spent  the  days  sitting  around  the 
home. 

With  the  men  living  in  such  crowded  conditions,  the  man- 
agers find  it  hard  to  keep  the  institutions  clean  and  sanitary. 
The  lack  of  ventilation  is  most  noticeable  during  the  winter  time, 
but,  with  the  only  heat  in  the  room  furnished  by  a  small  stove 
which  is  only  large  enough  to  supply  a  little  hot  water  and  give 
the  men  a  chance  to  warm  their  hands,  the  inmates  naturally  look 
with  disfavor  on  the  admission  of  any  cold  fresh  air.  Conse- 
quently, even  though  there  are  ventilators  in  the  paper  windows, 
they  are  usually  kept  tightly  closed. 

Chinese  doctors  using  Chinese  medicine  look  after  any  of  the 
inmates  that  are  sick,  and  a  separate  room  is  provided  for  those 
who  are  seriously  ill.  As  might  be  expected  with  such  a  group 
living  such  a  life,  the  death  rate  is  high.  For  some  of  the  winter 
months  the  average  is  over  one  a  day. 

The  managers  of  the  poorhouses  are  appointed  by  the  head 
of  the  Police  Board  and  are  responsible  to  him.  They  are  paid 
$20  a  month,  while  their  assistants  receive  $8  and  $10  a  month. 
For  the  care  of  the  two  homes  the  police  furnish  10  officers  and 
guards. 

It  was  impossible  to  find  out  from  the  men  in  charge  the 
amount  being  spent  for  the  running  expenses  of  the  homes ;  all 
needed  supplies  were  sent  them  from  police  headquarters,  and 
they  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  finances  of  the  institution.  The 
police,  in  their  annual  report,  state  that  they  are  spending  $3,473 
a  year  for  the  two  poorhouses.  This  is  certainly  not  the  entire 
budget  of  the  two  institutions  as  it  costs  in  the  neighborhood  of 
$1,000  a  month  to  feed  the  inmates,  and  the  wages  of  those  who 
are  working  amount  to  about  $700  a  month.  In  all  probability  it 
represents  salaries  alone  or  salaries  and  miscellaneous  expendi- 
tures; or  else  other  government  boards  are  paying  the  Police 


300  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

Board  for  the  work  of  the  poorhouse  inmates,  and  this  is  the 
balance  that  has  to  be  added. 

These  homes  are  undoubtedly  giving  relief  to  a  great  many 
needy  cases,  but  at  the  same  time  they  are  not  making  any  effort 
to  fit  the  inmates  to  be  self-supporting,  even  though  quite  a 
number  of  them  are  young  men.  A  little  training  and  help  ought 
to  make  most  of  these  capable  of  self-support,  and  at  the  same 
time  leave  their  places  available  for  those  who  are  more  really  in 
need  of  the  type  of  relief  that  these  homes  can  give.  Apparently 
it  is  not  always  the  most  needy  cases  that  are  admitted,  and  so  far 
it  has  been  impossible  to  determine  on  just  what  basis  the  police 
make  their  selection  of  cases. 

To  those  who  are  accustomed  to  western  standards  of  institu- 
tional care,  the  conditions  in  the  poorhouses  seem  greatly  in 
need  of  improvement.  On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  these  people  are  paupers ;  that  care  must  be  taken  that 
their  lot  is,  at  least,  no  better  than  that  of  the  self-supporting 
workman,  and  that  living  conditions  are  very  hard  for  many  of 
the  Chinese  who  are  self-supporting.  Even  so,  an  improvement 
could  well  be  made  in  the  matter  of  cleanliness,  ventilation  and 
medical  care. 

YANG   LAO  YUAN    OR  OLD   LADIES'    HOME 

"The  happiest  group  of  people  living  on  the  least  amount  of 
money,"  is  the  way  one  man  described  the  inmates  of  the  Old 
Ladies'  Home,  or  "Yang  Lao  Yuan,"  on  Kan  Yu  Hut'ung. 
This  is  a  group  of  50  old  women  who  know  that  they  will  be 
taken  care  of  for  the  rest  of  their  days,  and  that  from  now  on 
they  do  not  have  to  worry  about  having  a  roof  over  their  heads 
and  enough  to  eat.  Although  the  amount  spent  for  their  food 
and  clothes  is  only  $2.10  a  month  apiece,  they  can  have  plenty. 
The  food  is,  of  necessity,  very  plain,  and  no  great  variety  is 
possible,  but  the  women  are  able  to  add  some  little  extras  to  their 
diet  and  feel  that  they  have  some  choice  in  the  things  they  eat, 
as  each  one  is  given  a  copper  a  day  to  spend  in  any  way  she 
desires.  It  certainly  is  an  interesting  sight  to  see  the  old  ladies 
examining  the  stock  of  the  street  peddlers  and  deciding  just  what 
they  can  buy  with  their  one  copper. 

This  Home  was  started  in  1895,  when  some  of  the  ladies  of 
the  foreign  community  opened  a  "Winter  Refuge"  for  some  of 
the  needy  old  women  who  had  been  brought  to  their  notice.  At 
first,  no  attempt  was  made  to  care  for  the  women  permanently. 
They  were  simply  given  a  place  where  they  could  keep  warm  and 
have  something  to  eat  during  the  cold  weather.  No  clothes  were 
provided  except  what  the  women  could  make  for  themselves  out 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  301 

of  the  discarded  nightshirts  of  one  of  the  foreign  Ministers. 
Following  the  Boxer  Uprising  in  1900,  Mrs.  Conger,  the  wife  of 
the  American  Minister,  became  interested  in  the  Home,  and 
through  her  help  funds  were  secured  from  America  that  made 
it  possible  to  enlarge  the  Home  and  establish  it  on  a  permanent 
basis.  Since  that  time  it  has  gradually  grown  both  in  the  num- 
bers cared  for  and  in  the  things  supplied  for  them.  Now  the 
women  are  given  everything,  shelter,  food,  clothes,  and  even  a 
little  money  with  which  to  buy  some  few  extras.  The  old  ladies 
do  all  of  their  own  work,  the  only  employed  help  being  one  of 
the  inmates  who  acts  as  cook  and  a  matron  who  looks  after  the 
general  running  of  the  institution. 

Without  a  doubt  the  Home  was  the  cleanest  of  any  of  the 
institutions  that  we  visited  in  Peking.  Everything  seemed  to 
have  been  brushed  and  scrubbed  until  it  shone;  even  the  court- 
yard was  carefully  swept.  The  inmates  themselves  were  spot- 
lessly clean,  and  their  clothes  testified  to  their  long  experience  in 
the  art  of  the  laundry. 

The  board  of  directors  responsible  for  the  management  of 
the  Home  is  made  up  entirely  of  foreign  women.  It  includes  in 
its  membership  representatives  from  each  of  the  foreign  mis- 
sionary societies  in  the  city  and  ladies  of  the  business  and  legation 
communities.  The  support  of  the  institution,  amounting  to  some 
$1,300  or  $1,400  a  year,  is  secured  from  private  contributions. 
No  women  are  admitted  to  the  Home  until  they  have  been  accepted 
by  the  board  of  directors.  The  women  must  be  at  least  60  years 
old,  and  investigation  must  show  that  their  families  are  unable  to 
support  them.  Under  no  circumstances  does  the  Home  accept 
any  bed-ridden  cases,  but  some  outside  relief  is  often  given  to 
those  who  cannot  be  taken  into  the  Home. 

The  following  is  the  report  of  expenditures  of  the  Yang  Lao 
Yuan  for  the  year  ending  April  3Oth,  1919: 

I.    Food,  clothing  and  burials : 

Flour,   rice,    cornflour    $511.14 

Weekly  allowance  for  vegetables  and  oil 141.45 

Cotton,  cottonwool,  thread,  etc 70.61 

Funerals : 

Coffins,  cart  hire,  digging  graves 64.98         $788.18 

II.    Expenses  for  the  upkeep  of  trie  institution: 

Coal  and  firing   186.38 

Repair  of  premises   47-52 

Wages :  Matronst  cook,  porter 217.40 

Utensils,   water,    scavenger    75.03         $526.33 


III.    Outdoor   pensioners    179.01  179.01 

Total  $1,493-51 


302  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

Inspired  by  the  success  of  the  Home  run  by  the  foreign 
women,  a  group  of  the  influential  Chinese  ladies  have  established 
a  similar  Home  for  old  ladies  on  Twelfth  Street  in  the  northeast 
corner  of  the  North  City.  By  means  of  a  benefit  theatrical  per- 
formance and  private  subscription,  they  have  collected  the  neces- 
sary funds  and  have  erected  two  buildings  costing  some  $3,500. 
In  these  they  are  caring  for  some  66  women.  While  the  man- 
agement of  the  Home  is  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Chinese 
women,  they  are  advising  with  some  of  the  foreign  women  and 
are  making  every  endeavor  to  have  their  Home  equal  or  surpass 
the  high  standard  of  the  older  institution. 


OLD  PEOPLE'S  HOMES 

Any  one  going  from  the  Yang  Lao  Yuan  to  the  home  for  old 
women  that  is  run  by  the  police  and  the  gentry,  or  to  one  of  the 
government  homes  for  old  men,  is  immediately  struck  by  the 
contrast  between  the  institutions.  The  Chinese  buildings  are 
very  much  the  same  and  the  amount  of  money  spent  per  inmate 
is  almost  the  same,  but. there  is  a  tremendous  difference  in  the 
atmosphere.  The  inmates  of  the  Yang  Lao  Yuan  are  happy  and 
contented,  even  though  they  are  living  in  a  very  plain  way.  They 
take  a  great  interest  in  the  life  that  goes  on  around  them,  and 
are  particular  to  keep  themselves  and  their  homes  very  clean. 
The  inmates  of  the  other  homes  seem  to  be  dragging  out  a  dreary 
existence  with  but  little  interest  or  hope,  and  they  do  not  make 
any  special  effort  to  keep  things  clean,  even  though  a  little  effort 
in  that  direction  would  make  a  great  improvement  in  their  sur- 
roundings. The  difference  between  the  institutions  is  largely  one 
of  mental  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  inmates  and  vision  on  the 
part  of  those  who  are  in  charge  of  the  homes,  but  it  is  just  that 
different  attitude  and  vision  that  is  the  great  need  of  the  Chinese 
institutions. 

The  three  homes  in  Peking  for  old  men  and  one  for  old 
women,  other  than  the  Yang  Lao  Yuan  and  the  new  Old  Ladies' 
Home,  have  been  opened  by  private  individuals,  but  in  recent 
years  have  either  been  entirely  taken  over  by  the  police  and  are 
being  run  as  government  institutions,  or  else  the  police  are  supply- 
ing the  food  while  private  individuals  are  contributing  the  other 
expenses. 

The  regime  followed  in  these  homes  is  very  similar  to  that 
of  other  government  institutions.  The  inmates  are  admitted  only 
after  they  have  been  recommended  by  the  police,  but,  once  ac- 
cepted, they  are  there  for  life.  The  living  quarters  are  not  as 
crowded  as  those  of  the  poorhouses,  the  average  being  from  six 


if, 

I 


RICKSHA    SHELTER. 

Hot  water  and  warmth  for  a  few  of  Peking's  25,000  ricksha  men.  Ordi- 
narily the  ricksha  man  has  no  protection  from  the  weather,  but  nine  of 
these  shelters  supervised  by  a  group  of  Chinese  and  foreigners  and  sup- 
ported by  an  annual  benefit  theatrical  performance  are  maintained  to  give 
some  of  these  unskilled,  hard  working,  poorly  paid  men  a  chance  to  get 
warm  while  waiting  for  business. 


REFORM   SCHOOL   DORMITORY. 

Misdemeanants   sleep   on   the   platform.      Destitute   men   on   the   K'ang. 


NO  MORE  WORRIES.      CARED   FOR  BY  THE   POORHOUSE. 

The    Poorhouses    run    by    the    police    provide    food    and    shelter    for    some    1,600 
selected  men   but  do  not  begin  to  touch  the   needs  of   Peking's  96,850   destitute. 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY 

to  ten  persons  to  each  "chien."  The  regulation  diet  is  two  meals 
a  day  of  millet  and  salt  vegetables  with  sometimes  a  little  rice 
added  to  the  millet. 

Work  is  found  outside  of  the  home  for  a  few  of  the  men 
who  are  able  to  do  a  little  something.  They  are  paid  two  or 
three  coppers  a  day  for  their  work,  or  just  enough  to  give  them 
a  chance  to  add  a  little  variety  to  the  monotonous  diet.  For  the 
most  part,  however,  the  men  are  not  given  anything  to  do  and 
they  either  sit  around  the  courtyard  or  else  are  allowed  to  go 
out  and  walk  around  the  streets  and  get  what  enjoyment  they 
can  from  watching  the  sights.  But  while  they  are  out  they  are 
not  allowed  to  beg  under  penalty  of  not  being  allowed  to  return. 

At  present  the  four  homes  are  caring  for  between  400  and  500 
old  people,  100  women  and  from  300  to  400  men. 


OTHER   INSTITUTIONS 

Other  institutions — the  hospitals,  the  blind  schools,  the  insane 
asylum,  the  prisons — all  have  a  part  in  the  charitable  work  of 
the  city ;  but,  as  they  are  more  intimately  connected  with  another 
part  of  the  life  of  the  city,  they  are  described  elsewhere  in  the 
report. 

CONCLUSIONS 

With  96,850  persons  (11.9  percent)  of  the  population,  classed 
by  the  police  as  "poor"  or  "very  poor,"  Peking  is  facing  a  tre- 
mendous problem  if  any  attempt  is  to  be  made  to  provide  ade- 
quate relief  for  these  unfortunates.  If  the  work  is  to  be  thor- 
oughly done,  it  will  require  a  great  many  institutions  and  a  very 
large  sum  of  money,  but  probably  no  more  than  is  now  being 
given  to  the  poor  through  public  and  private  channels.  The 
problem  does  not  seem  to  be  one  of  securing  the  money,  for  there 
is  a  great  willingness  on  the  part  of  the  Chinese  to  give  to  those 
who  are  less  fortunate.  Many  a  case  has  been  found  where  a 
group  of  families  with  barely  enough  for  themselves,  have  been 
supporting  some  old  man  or  woman,  while  well-to-do  families 
are  usually  caring  for  a  considerable  number  of  persons.  In 
times  of  flood  or  famine,  the  students  have  been  willing  to  go 
without  one  meal  a  day  so  that  they  might  have  something  to  send 
to  those  who  are  in  need.  Large  amounts  are  given  every  day  to 
the  beggars  along  the  street,  for  one  continually  sees  coppers 
being  thrown  to  them  from  rickshas  or  carriages.  Appeals  for 
funds  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  private  institutions  meet  with 
a  ready  response.  The  great  problem  seems  to  be  to  get  those 
who  are  in  need  in  touch  with  those  who  are  willing-  to  ^'ve.  and 


304.  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

also  to  develop  a  type  of  relief  work  that  will  be  constructive 
rather  than  palliative. 

In  the  past  the  several  charitable  institutions  have  engaged 
much  of  the  private  philanthropy  of  the  city.  Under  the  Empire, 
practically  all  of  the  institutions  were  privately  managed,  and 
the  Government  did  but  little  relief.  Since  the  establishment  of 
the  Republic,  however,  the  various  government  boards  have  taken 
over  practically  all  of  the  established  charitable  institutions  in 
Peking  and  have  even  opened  new  ones.  Although  the  system 
followed  in  most  of  these  is  that  which  the  Chinese  have  developed 
through  long  years,  very  decided  changes  are  being  made  in  some, 
particularly  in  the  Model  Prison  and  the  Chao  Yang  Chu  or  Re- 
form School.  Some  of  the  government  boards  are  taking  up  new 
ideas  and  working  them  out  in  their  institutions,  while  others 
seem  to  be  perfectly  content  with  the  old  system  and  methods. 

'Much  as  some  of  the  government  institutions  need  to  be 
improved,  the  development  of  the  private  philanthropy  of  the 
city  is  a  much  larger  problem.  With  practically  all  of  the  institu- 
tions in  the  hands  of  the  Government,  there  is  but  little  institu- 
tional outlet  for  private  charity  unless  those  who  give  are  willing 
to  turn  their  money  over  to  the  officials.  For  a  time  this  plan 
may  work,  but  before  long  some  individuals  are  going  to  be  dis- 
satisfied with  the  way  the  Government  is  doing  things  and  will 
want  to  establish  new  institutions.  The  question  is,  "Along  what 
lines  will  these  institutions  develop?  Will  they  follow  the  old 
Chinese  methods,  or  will  those  in  charge  be  able  to  learn  from 
the  experience  of  other  countries  and  so  develop  the  new  institu- 
tions along  new  lines?"  The  experiments  worked  out  in  the 
Peking  Orphanage  and  the  Yang  Lao  Yuan  have  shown  that  the 
Peking  institutions  do  not  need  more  money,  but  that  those  in 
charge  do  need  a  new  vision  of  the  possibilities  of  cleanliness, 
sanitation,  medical  care  and  the  development  of  the  mental  life 
of  the  inmates.  And  they  also  need  a  spirit  of  fidelity  in  attain- 
ing these  ends. 

Before  much  real  progress  can  be  made  in  the  institutional 
life  of  the  city,  one  very  fundamental  problem  must  be  solved, 
namely,  that  of  handling  the  charitable  funds.  With  the  Emperor 
belonging  to  a  conquering  race,  the  governmental  system  of  the 
Empire  was  one  in  which  the  officials  were  paid  very  low  sal- 
aries, and  were  expected  to  make  up  their  income  out  of  the 
perquisites  of  their  office.  Public  funds  were  only  too  often 
looked  on  as  a  legitimate  source  of  private  income  by  those  who 
handled  them  and  the  same  was  often  true  of  money  contributed 
for  charitable  purposes.  Funds  that  were  supposed  to  be  used 
for  the  poor  many  times  went  for  "administration  expenses." 
This  same  system  and  attitude  of  mind  have  not  been  greatly 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  305 

changed,  even  though  the  Emperor  has  gone,  a  Republic  has  been 
established,  and  the  rulers  no  longer  look  on  themselves  as  con- 
querors. The  experience  with  the  Foundlings'  Home  shows  only 
too  plainly  how  the  one  who  has  the  financial  control  of  an 
institution  can  wreck  it,  if  he  is  more  interested  in  having  his 
friends  employed  than  he  is  in  the  welfare  of  the  inmates  of  the 
institution.  As  long  as  there  is  a  possibility  of  funds  being 
misused,  people  will  hesitate  to  contribute ;  and  rather  than  have 
a  large  part  of  their  contributions  used  for  the  personal  benefit 
of  those  in  charge  of  some  institution,  they  will  allow  the  poor 
to  suffer. 

One  of  the  chief  institutional  needs  of  Peking  is  some  organ- 
ization or  bureau  that  can  impartially  investigate  those  who  are 
supposed  to  be  poor,  recommend  those  who  are  deserving,  and 
outline  the  best  possible  program  for  their  relief.  At  present  the 
police  are  the  only  ones  who  are  able  to  make  any  attempt  to  say 
whether  or  not  a  family  is  worthy  of  help,  but  they  are  not  in  a 
position  to  go  into  all  the  details,  and  they  have  not  had  the 
training  that  would  make  it  possible  for  them  to  discover  the  real 
cause  of  dependency  or  outline  the  best  possible  means  of  relief. 
Lacking  definite  information,  those  who  might  help  either  do  not 
give  or  else  give  promiscuously,  hoping  that  they  will  perhaps 
help  some  one  who  is  worthy.  With  all  the  poverty  and  need, 
it  is  surprising  how  little  it  sometimes  takes  to  put  a  family  on 
its  feet  and  make  it  self-supporting.  The  poor  relief  work  con- 
ducted by  the  Community  Service  Group  in  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou 
District  (see  Chapter  XVI)  showed  that  many  of  the  poor  were 
able  to  "make  good"  if  only  they  had  an  opportunity  and  a  little 
capital.  In  some  cases,  a  loan  of  not  more  than  ten  dollars  would 
rehabilitate  a  man,  make  him  self-supporting  and  make  it  possible 
for  him  to  repay  the  loan,  but  it  requires  investigation  and 
experience  to  discover  those  who  are  worthy  of  such  help. 

If  China  is  ever  really  to  solve  her  problems  of  poverty  she 
must  first  work  out  others  that  are  even  more  fundamental,  those 
of  ignorance,  a  low  standard  of  living,  and  an  industrial  system 
in  which  labor  has  little  if  any  mobility:  these  are  problems  for 
the  future;  but  a  great  deal  can  be  done  now  toward  the  uplift 
of  the  poor  if  only  a  new  vision  of  the  possibilities  of  relief  work 
can  be  given  to  those  who  are  already  interested,  so  that  their 
aim  will  be  reconstruction  rather  than  temporary  relief.  Ap- 
parently this  can  best  be  done  by  demonstrations  in  which  the 
best  of  western  methods  and  experience  are  adapted  to  Chinese 
life,  and  Peking  seems  to  be  the  best  place  to  make  such  demon- 
strations. It  is  the  capital,  and  so  anything  done  there  will 
influence  the  entire  country.  Then,  too,  the  Government  has 
taken  over  the  established  institutions,  and  private  philanthropy 


306  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

is  free  to  experiment  and  develop  new  institutional  methods. 
The  problem  is  to  make  the  most  of  this  situation  and  help  the 
new  private  institutions,  which  are  sure  to  be  established,  de- 
velop along  the  broadest  and  most  modern  lines.  It  will  not  be 
long  before  China  will  have  gone  through  her  period  of  transi- 
tion, and  methods  and  institutions  will  once  more  become 
standardized.  The  question  is,  "How  much  progress  can  she 
make?  How  near  can  she  come  to  the  best  methods  before 
things  crystallize ?"  Alone,  China  cannot  go  far;  but  helped  by 
those  who  know  western  methods  and  are  able  to  adapt  them  to 
Chinese  life  she  can  make  tremendous  progress ;  and  it  will  mean 
much  if  a  demonstration  can  be  made  in  Peking  that  will  give  the 
Chinese  the  benefit  of  the  years  of  western  experience  and  show 
them  what  can  be  accomplished  in  dealing  with  the  problems  of 
poverty. 


CHAPTER  XII 
PRISONS 

Prison  reform  in  China  is  one  of  the  most  encouraging  of  all 
the  modern  movements,  not  excepting  even  the  great  progress 
that  has  been  made  in  education,  for  it  shows  so  clearly  what 
can  be  accomplished  by  a  few  trained  men  with  a  big  vision. 

The  old  style  prisons  have  been  called  "hells"  by  the  Chinese 
themselves,  and  the  conditions  in  them  can  be  better  imagined 
than  described.  They  were  dark,  crowded,  unsanitary,  and  the 
treatment  given  the  prisoners  was  barbarous  and  extremely  de- 
grading. Confinement  and  not  reform  was  their  object,  so  there 
was  no  incentive  to  make  conditions  anything  but  terrible.  It 
is  stated  by  Chinese  prison  workers  that  formerly  the  number  of 
those  who  suffered  by  the  executioner's  sword — and  they  were 
many — was  not  even  half  of  those  who  died  from  the  effects  of 
torture  and  privation  in  the  prisons. 

The  new  penology  aims  to  reform  the  prisoners.  Instead  of 
being  terrible,  the  new  model  prisons  are  clean  and  airy.  The 
men  are  given  good  physical  care  and  are  taught  useful  work. 
Some  American  investigators  have  even  said  that  if  they  had 
to  go  to  prison,  they  would  rather  be  confined  in  one  of  the 
Peking  model  prisons  than  in  many  of  the  American  pen- 
itentiaries, for  the  Peking  prisons  compare  very  favorably  with 
the  best  in  America. 

Although  the  prison  reform  movement  was  first  developed 
in  Peking  and  there  are  four  model  prisons  in  the  city,  some 
of  the  other  nine  prisons  are  still  old  style  prisons  even  though 
they  are  called  "Reformed  Prisons"  and  are  much  improved  over 
what  they  used  to  be.  It  is  one  of  the  familiar  contrasts  of 
Peking  to  find  the  old  and  the  new  side  by  side  and  apparently 
exerting  but  little  influence  on  each  other. 

The  principal  examples  in  Peking  of  the  reformed  old  style 
prisons  are  those  maintained  by  the  magistrates  of  Ta  Hsing 
Hsien  and  Wan  P'ing  Hsien,  the  two  counties  whose  boundary 
line  runs  north  and  south  through  the  center  of  the  city  (P  10, 
P  u,  see  Map  No.  22).  These  prisons  consist  of  several  small 
courtyards  surrounded  by  walls  about  ten  feet  high,  with  the 
corners  and  other  places  where  men  might  climb  over  protected 
by  piles  of  thorn  branches.  Most  of  the  prisoners  are  confined 

307 


308  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

in  wooden  cages  erected  in  the  buildings  around  the  courtyards. 
These  cages  are  about  15  by  20  feet  and  have  a  floor  some  two 
feet  above  the  ground.  As  there  are  ordinarily  20  men 
in  each  cage,  there  is  just  room  enough  for  them  all  to  lie  down 
at  one  time.  In  some  cases,  the  prisoners  are  permitted  to 
come  out  of  the  cages  during  the  daytime,  walk  around  the  court- 
yard, do  some  work  and  pass  the  time  as  best  they  may.  Others, 
usually  those  accused  of  the  more  serious  crimes,  are  kept  locked 
in,  the  latticed  door  being  opened  for  only  a  few  minutes  three 
times  a  day,  and  they  have  no  choice  but  to  sit  cross-legged  all 
day  long.  Ankle  shackles  are  worn  by  all  the  men,  and  some 
have  a  heavy  iron  collar  and  chain  placed  around  their  necks,  the 
chain  being  passed  around  their  waists  and  connected  with  the 
ankle  shackles.  This  is  one  method  of  attempting  to  make  a 
man  confess  to  murder. 

The  buildings  of  the  Wan  P'ing  Hsien  prison  have  been  com- 
pleted fairly  recently,  so  are  more  suitable  for  housing  the  men. 
They  are  arranged  so  that  in  summer  the  paper  windows  in 
front  of  the  wooden  cages  can  be  raised,  and  the  men  be  given  a 
free  circulation  of  air.  In  winter,  ventilation  is  provided  by 
special  openings  in  the  roof. 

The  sanitary  conditions  in  these  prisons  leave  much  to  be 
desired,  even  though  in  some  of  the  courtyards  we  found  every- 
thing carefully  swept  and  whitewashed.  In  one,  the  prisoners 
were  even  kept  in  their  cells  so  that  the  ground  might  be  swept 
until  not  a  footprint  showed.  It  is  practically  impossible  for 
the  men  to  keep  themselves,  their  clothing  or  their  bedding  clean, 
and  no  proper  preparation  is  made  for  washing,  even  though  a 
small  tub  is  provided  in  which  the  prisoners  may  bathe  if  they 
so  desire.  The  toilets,  which  are  simply  holes  in  the  ground, 
are  not  well  cleaned  and  in  summer  must  give  off  an  almost  un- 
bearable odor. 

The  only  work  provided  for  the  men  is  the  weaving  of  tai 
tzu,  the  ribbons  that  the  Chinese  use  to  bind  the  bottom  of  their 
trousers.  In  the  Ta  Hsing  prison,  the  necessary  material  is 
supplied  by  the  magistrate,  but  in  the  Wan  P'ing  prison  the  men 
must  furnish  their  own  thread.  The  men  work  only  if  they 
want  to  occupy  their  time  and  make  a  little  extra  money — five 
or  six  coppers  a  day  if  they  work  all  day.  About  15  were  taking 
advantage  of  the  work  offered  in  the  Ta  Hsing  prison. 

At  the  time  of  our  visit,  there  were  122  men  in  the  Ta  Hsing 
prison.  Only  39  were  convicted  prisoners.  The  other  83  were 
awaiting  trial,  and  although  some  of  them  had  been  in  jail  for 
over  a  year  and  half  their  cases  had  not  yet  been  heard.  In 
the  Wan  Ping  prison  were  130  prisoners,  78  who  had  been  con- 
victed and  52  who  were  awaiting  trial.  Most  of  the  men  were 


PRISONS  309 

accused  or  had  been  convicted  of  robbery,  securing  money  under 
false  pretenses,  murder,  though  several  in  the  Wan  P'ing  prison 
were  guilty  of  smuggling  opium.  Only  three  of  the  prisoners 
were  women.  They  had  a  separate  courtyard  in  the  Wan  P'ing 
prison  and  were  cared  for  by  a  matron.  They  were  guilty  of 
murder  and  kidnaping. 

The  sentences  given  the  prisoners  ranged  from  one  year 
to  life,  the  average  being  seven  or  eight  years.  Some  allowance 
is  ordinarily  made  for  good  conduct,  but  only  at  the  will  of  the 
jailer  and  the  magistrate.  Corporal  punishment  is  given  those 
who  greatly  displease  the  jailer. 

No  definite  amount  of  money  is  set  aside  for  the  expenses 
of  the  prisons  and  no  regular  salaries  are  paid  the  jailers  and 
their  assistants.  They,  with  the  other  men  employed  by  the 
yamen,  share  in  the  money  that  is  paid  in  as  fines  and  fees  dur- 
ing the  year.  The  only  regular  allowance  is  eight  coppers  per 
man  per  day  for  the  purchase  of  food.  This  means  that  the 
prisoners'  diet  consists  of  millet,  Indian  corn  and  salt  vegetable 
(vegetables  that  have  been  pickled  in  brine  and  that  are  used 
much  as  crystallized  salt  is  used  in  America) .  The  men  ordinarily 
receive  one-half  catty  (2/3  Ibs.)  of  millet  for  each  meal,  and  are 
given  two  meals  a  day. 

In  the  Wan  Ping  Hsien  prison,  the  men  are  taken  out  three 
times  a  week  and  marched  around  a  drill  ground  for  exercise, 
but  in  the  Ta  Hsing  Hsien  prison,  walking  around  the  courtyard 
is  the  prisoner's  only  exercise. 

The  prison  reform  movement  began  in  China  in  the  2Qth 
year  of  the  reign  of  Kuang  Hsu  (1903),  the  time  when  so  many 
reforms  were  started.  In  that  year  Chao  Er  Hsun,  the  Viceroy  of 
Shensi,  memorialized  the  throne  and  emphasized  the  importance 
of  replacing  flogging,  banishment  and  transportation  by  a  labor 
penalty.  As  a  result  of  this  memorial,  the  organization  of  in- 
dustrial institutions  for  criminals  was  authorized.  These  spread 
rapidly  throughout  the  country  and  were  the  forerunners  of  the 
present  model  prisons. 

In  1906,  Tai  Hung  Sze,  who  had  been  sent  to  Europe  to 
investigate  constitutional  forms  of  government,  returned  and 
organized  a  prison  department  in  the  Board  of  Justice,  thus 
starting  the  prison  administration  of  the  Central  Government. 
The  next  year,  special  courses  on  prisons  and  prison  administra- 
tion were  given  in  the  Peking  Law  School  by  Dr.  O-Kai  Owi  of 
Japan.  In  the  first  year  of  Hsuan  T'ung  (1909),  Tai  Hung  Sze, 
then  Minister  of  the  Board  of  Justice,  requested,  in  a  petition  to 
the  Emperor,  that  a  model  prison  be  established  in  Peking  and 
that  an  edict  be  issued  ordering  the  various  provinces  to  do  the 
same.  The  building  of  the  Peking  prison  was  begun  that  same 


310 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


year,  and  the  next  year  a  special  edict  was  issued  requiring  all 
the  provinces  to  establish  schools  devoted  to  the  exclusive  study 
of  prison  problems  and  the  training  of  specialists  in  prison  work. 
In  the  2nd  year  of  the  Republic  (1913)  Hsu  Shih  Ying, 
Minister  of  the  Board  of  Justice,  arranged  for  conferences  of 
the  judicial  authorities  to  be  held  in  the  capital,  and  outlined 
as  a  ten-year  building  program  the  construction  of  240  jails,  one 
for  every  6  or  7  of  the  1700  hsien  of  China,  and  the  expendi- 
ture of  $25,000,000.  This  program  has  not  been  completed, 
but  progress  is  gradually  being  made,  the  following  table  show- 
ing that  at  present  there  are  39  model  prisons  in  China  with 
accommodations  for  14,185  prisoners.  Four  of  these,  with  a  ca- 
pacity of  2,127  men  are  in  Peking. 

MODEL  PRISONS  IN  CHINA 


1918 


NUMBER  OF 
PRISONS 


NUMBER  OF 
PRISONERS 
ACCOMMODATED 


CITY  OR  PROVINCE 

Peking 4 

Chihli    i.., i 

Fengtien .i g 

Kirin I 

Shantung 2 

Shansi    2 

Kiangsti 2 

Shanghai    2 

Soochow   2 

Anhui    I 

Kiangsi  2 

Fukien   

Chekiang    

Hupeh    

Shensi    

Kansu   

Szechuan    

Kuangsi    

Yunnan    

Total 39  14*185 

In  1915  the  prison  statutes  were  codified  and  promulgated 
by  the  Central  Government,  thus  putting  the  prison  work  of  the 
country  on  a  uniform  basis. 


THE   FIRST    PEKING   PRISON 


The  First  Peking  Prison,  or  the  Peking  Model  Prison,  as 
it  is  usually  known,  is  located  on  an  old  drill  field  of  120  mou 
(approximately  20  acres)  just  north  of  the  south  wall  of  the 


OLD    STYLE    PRISON    CELL. 

Twenty    men    in    a    cell    15x20    feet. 


MAKING  MATCH  BOXES,  MODEL  PRISON  WORKSHOP. 


PEKING   MODEL  PRISON,  THE  FIRST  OF  39  IN  CHINA. 


iiiiiii! 


THE    FIVE   TEACHERS,    CHRIST,   LAO   TZE,    CONFUCIUS,   JOHN    HOWARD, 
MOHAMMED. 

Model  Prisons  give  the  men  good  care,  good  living  conditions,  industrial  work. 
The  development  of  the  Model  Prison  Idea  shows  what  a  few  men  working 
toward  an  ideal  can  accomplish  in  China. 


PRISONS  311 

South  City  (P  4,  Map  No.  22).  Construction  work  was  be- 
gun in  November,  1909,  but  was  interrupted  by  the  Revolution 
of  1911,  and  the  first  prisoners  were  not  received  until  Novem- 
ber 10,  1912.  The  prison  has  been  built  on  the  double  cruci- 
form plan,  the  cell  blocks  radiating  from  the  two  central  points, 
from  each  of  which  the  wardens  can  see  five  different  rows  of 
cells.  The  workshops  are  built  across  the  ends  of  the  cell  build- 
ings and  the  plan  of  the  prison  is  such  that  every  cell  gets  sun- 
light at  some  time  during  the  day. 

The  present  capacity  of  the  prison  is  556  men,  but  it  is 
planned  to  enlarge  it  in  the  near  future  by  the  erection  of  a 
second  unit  that  will  care  for  some  400  men.  There  are  now 
156  individual  cells,  38  for  8  prisoners  each  and  8  for  12.  These 
are  all  well  lighted  and  well  ventilated,  the  prison  rules  requir- 
ing that  the  windows  of  every  cell  must  be  open  for  at  least 
part  of  the  day.  In  summertime,  at  least  one  of  the  windows 
must  be  open  at  night.  In  winter,  when  the  men  insist  on  having 
the  windows  closed,  ventilators  in  the  ceiling  allow  for  a  small 
current  of  air.  At  night,  the  cells  are  lighted  by  electricity — 
one  bulb  to  each  two  cells.  Each  man  is  provided  with  a  wooden 
bed,  a  cotton  wadded  quilt,  a  hay  wadded  mattress  and  a  white 
pillow.  The  present  building  has  cost  approximately  $200,000.  

Work  is  provided  for  practically  all  of  the  prisoners  and 
an  effort  is  made  to  give  the  men  the  work  for  which  they  are 
best  fitted.  Carpentry,  weaving,  type-setting,  printing  and  book- 
binding, shoemaking,  tailoring,  masonry,  metal,  leather  and  bam- 
boo work  are  the  trades  taught,  from  25  to  40  men  being  en- 
gaged in  each.  Only  a  few  have  an  opportunity  to  do  agricultural 
work  as  the  land  inside  the  prison  walls  is  all  that  is  available 
for  cultivation.  An  attempt  has  been  made  to  have  some  of  the 
men  do  farm  work  outside  the  prison  walls,  but  it  has  been  im- 
possible to  secure  the  necessary  land.  According  to  the  prison 
report  only  some  40  men  (7  percent)  are  required  to  do  the  wash- 
ing, cooking  and  cleaning,  which  seems  a  very  small  number.  In 
the  Second  Prison  38  percent  of  the  prisoners  are  engaged  in  that 
work.  The  shops  are  well  cared  for,  well  cleaned,  well  ventilated, 
and  the  working  conditions  are  all  that  could  be  desired.  Hours 
are  fairly  long — 12  hours  in  summer  and  10  in  winter,  but 
even  so  the  work  is  not  very  strenuous.  All  of  the  men  are 
paid  for  their  work,  provided  they  have  been  diligent  and  have 
obeyed  the  rules.  The  amount  given  them  varies  from  one  to 
six  coppers  a  day,  depending  upon  the  trade  in  which  they  are 
engaged  and  the  amount  and  quality  of  their  work.  The  prisoners 
are  allowed  to  spend  part  of  what  they  earn,  the  remainder  be- 
ing deposited  with  the  Ministry  of  Justice,  and  paid  to  them 
upon  their  release.  According  to  the  1916  report,  the  prison 


312  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

shops  produced  work  valued  at  $48,380,  making  a  profit  of  $9,610, 
the  expenses  amounting  to  $38,770.  The  wages  paid  the  men 
amounted  to  $953.19.  The  printing  of  the  Board  of  Justice  and 
much  of  that  of  the  Board  of  Education  is  done  by  the  prison 
print  shop. 

Prisoners  who  are  under  18  years  of  age  are  given  an  hour 
or  two  a  day  in  school,  the  work  being  equivalent  to  that  of  the 
ordinary  primary  school.  Religious  and  moral  lectures  are  given 
to  all  the  prisoners,  sometimes  in  the  shops  during  the  noon  rest 
period  or  else  in  the  prison  lecture  room.  In  the  latter,  the 
prisoners  are  seated  in  little  wooden  stalls  built  so  that  the 
prisoners  cannot  see  each  other  and  the  lecturer  can  see  only 
their  heads.  On  the  wall,  back  of  the  lecturer's  platform,  a 
Chinese  artist  has  painted  portraits  of  the  five  great  teachers, 
Confucius,  Lao  Tze,  Mohammed,  Christ  and  John  Howard.  The 
wardens  welcome  any  influence  that  will  help  reform  the  men 
under  their  care,  and  the  prison  is  open  to  those  who  want  to 
preach  or  give  moral  and  religious  lectures.  Both  the  Buddhists 
and  the  Christians  are  working  in  the  prison. 

All  prisoners,  within  certain  limits,  have  the  privilege  of  re- 
ceiving visitors  once  a  month  and  writing  a  letter  twice  a  month, 
though  except  in  special  cases  their  visitors  and  those  to  whom 
they  write  must  be  members  of  their  family.  Visitors  are  re- 
ceived only  during  working  hours  and  are  allowed  a  visit  of 
only  half  an  hour.  All  conversation  must  be  carried  on  in  the 
presence  of  a  warden.  The  prisoner  is  on  the  inside  of  one 
grating,  the  visitors  are  on  the  outside  of  another  and  the  war- 
den sits  between  the  two.  The  chief  parts  of  the  conversation  are 
recorded  and  kept  as  part  of  the  prisoner's  record.  All  letters 
are  censored  by  the  superintendent  or  one  of  the  chief  wardens. 

Those  who  give  evidence  of  having  changed  their  criminal 
habits  are  given  special  privileges — permission  to  use  their  own 
writing  materials,  wear  their  own  underclothes,  read  their  own 
books;  are  given  a  special  reward  of  from  one  to  six  cents  a 
day  in  addition  to  their  wages;  are  given  two  or  three  addi- 
tional dishes  once  every  ten  days  and  may  have  their  sentences 
reduced.  Two  prisoners  have  been  successfully  released  on 
parole. 

Those  who  break  the  prison  rules  are  punished  by  reproach, 
loss  of  pay  for  work,  deprivation  of  the  privileges  of  receiving 
visitors,  writing  letters,  reading,  using  personal  belongings  and 
taking  exercise.  For  the  more  serious  offenses,  the  prisoners 
are  put  on  one-half  or  one-third  rations,  their  food  being  dimin- 
ished only  on  alternate  days,  however;  are  given  solitary  con- 
finement for  not  more  than  seven  days  or  confinement  in  a  dark 
room  for  not  more  than  seventy-two  hours. 


PRISONS  313 

Punishment  is  given  a  prisoner  only  on  the  order  of  the  chief 
warden  who  is  responsible  for  the  deportment  and  discipline  of 
the  prisoners.  All  misconduct  is  reported  to  him  and  he  de- 
termines the  punishment  therefor,  though  the  rules  require  that 
the  final  decision  lie  with  the  superintendent.  In  case  of  a 
serious  infraction  of  the  rules,  the  punishment  that  shall  be 
given  is  determined  by  a  conference  of  the  superintendent  and 
the  chief  wardens.  The  limited  experience  in  the  prison  has 
shown  that  it  is  very  desirable  to  centralize  the  administration  of 
punishment  and  take  it  out  of  the  hands  of  the  under 
officers. 

Baths  are  provided  for  all  the  men  twice  a  week  in  summer, 
once  a  week  in  the  spring  and  fall  and  once  every  ten  days  dur- 
ing the  winter.  Underclothes  must  be  changed  every  ten  days 
in  winter  and  twice  a  week  in  summer.  Pillowcases  are  washed 
twice  a  week,  the  bed-ticks  once  a  week  and  the  bed  covers  once 
every  three  weeks. 

The  health  of  the  prisoners  is  looked  after  by  a  Chinese  doc- 
tor trained  in  foreign  medicine,  who  is  provided  with  a  well 
equipped  dispensary  and  a  small  hospital  with  two  prisoner 
nurses.  A  special  physical  examination  is  given  all  prisoners 
when  they  enter  and  leave  the  prison. 

Two  meals  a  day  are  served,  consisting  usually  of  bread, 
made  from  Indian  meal  and  small  rice  meal,  and  fresh  and  salt 
vegetables.  On  national  holidays,  the  prisoners  are  given  an 
extra  meal  of  bread  and  meat.  The  amount  of  food  given  the 
men  depends  upon  their  work.  Those  doing  heavy  manual  work 
receive  14  ounces  of  bread  a  day;  those  on  lighter  work,  10  to 
12  ounces,  while  those  who  are  sick  are  given  6  to  8  ounces 
of  bread,  besides  beef  and  eggs.  The  average  cost  of  food  is 
gl/2  cents  per  person  per  day. 

Outdoor  exercise,  consisting  of  setting-up  exercises  and 
marching  around  the  prison  courtyard  for  half  an  hour,  is 
given  all  the  prisoners  every  day.  Those  who  have  not  been 
assigned  to  work  are  required  to  drill  for  an  hour  a  day. 

In  May,  1915,  40  women  were  sent  to  the  prison,  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  no  quarters  had  been  provided  for  them.  Since 
then,  a  separate  department  has  been  built  for  them  by  prison 
labor,  and  at  the  present  time  there  are  100  women  in  the  prison. 
Conditions  in  their  department  are  the  same  as  in  the  men's 
prison,  except  that  the  work  for  the  women  consists  of  sewing 
and  the  making  of  paste  and  match-boxes. 

The  prison  staff  consists  of  a  superintendent,  three  chief  and 
three  assistant  chief  wardens,  12  warden  leaders,  one  of  whom  is  a 
woman,  61  wardens,  six  of  whom  are  women,  22  reserve  war- 
dens, one  instructor  and  one  physician,  a  total  of  104.  For  pur- 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

poses  of  administration,  the  affairs  of  the  prison  are  divided  into 
three  departments,  the  heads  of  the  departments  being  the  chief 
wardens.  The  first  department  is  responsible  for  all  official  corre- 
spondence and  dispatches,  for  the  promotion  of  all  officers,  for  the 
issuing  of  reports,  for  all  financial  matters  and  for  the  release  of 
the  prisoners.  The  second  department  looks  after  the  deportment 
and  discipline  of  the  prisoners,  the  instruction  of  the  wardens  and 
the  correspondence  and  interviews  of  the  prisoners.  The  third 
department  is  in  charge  of  the  work  and  payment  of  the  prisoners, 
all  prison  property  and  any  building  and  repair  work. 

By  the  end  of  1915,  the  prison  had  received  642  men,  and  up 
to  that  time  very  few  had  been  released,  it  being  the  policy  of 
the  prison  to  accept  only  those  who  have  a  term  of  at  least 
three  years.  Men  with  shorter  sentences  are  sent  to  the  Extension 
Prison  (P  2,  Map  No.  22).  The  following  table  shows  that 
53  percent  (341)  of  the  642  prisoners  were  guilty  of  robbery  or 
burglary,  while  30  percent  (193)  were  guilty  of  crimes  against 
persons — murder,  rape  or  kidnaping.  Only  one  was  in  prison  for 
opium  eating  and  one  for  gambling,  these  crimes  being  ordinarily 
punished  by  a  sentence  shorter  than  three  years. 

Twenty-two  of  the  prisoners  were  under  16  years  or  age  at 
the  time  of  their  commitment  and  117  (18  percent)  were  under 
21.  Forty-seven  percent  were  under  26  years  of  age  and  78 
percent  under  31.  Only  16  (2  percent)  were  more  than  50  years 
old. 

CRIMES  AND  AGES  OF  PRISONERS  IN  THE  PEKING  PRISON » 

1916 

CRIME  NUMBER 

Robbery   207 

Burglary   134 

Kidnaping    no 

Murder    74 

Swindling   29 

"Money    20 

False  Accusation   15 

Accomplice  in  Theft n 

Adultery   9 

Rebellion  4 

Counterfeiting  Dispatches  and  Signatures 3 

Opening  Graves  2 

Opium  Eating  I 

Gambling   

Disorderly  Conduct * 

Others     , 27 

Total *. 648 

1From  the  Report  of  the  Peking  First  Prison 


PRISONS  315 

AGE                                                                                                               NUMBER  PERCENT 

Under  16 21  3 

16-20 96  15 

21-25 iSi  24 

26-30 229  36 

31-40 ioi  16 

41-50 28  4 

51-60 16  2 

Total 642  loo 


THE   SECOND    PEKING   PRISON 

The  Number  Two  Reform  Prison  erected  a  short  distance  out- 
side the  Te  Sheng  Men  (P  6,  Map  No.  22)  is  a  monument  to 
the  work  of  the  superintendent,  Mr.  Liang  P'ing  Fu,  and  is  an 
example  of  what  can  be  done  in  building  a  prison  with  prison 
labor  and  in  organizing  shops  to  train  men  and  still  operate  at 
a  profit.  Starting  some  six  or  seven  years  ago  with  a  small  group 
of  men  in  an  old  style  temple,  Mr.  Liang  has  built  an  institu- 
tion capable  of  caring  for  1,000  men;  and,  except  for  the  timber 
and  glass,  practically  everything  needed  in  the  construction  of 
the  buildings  has  been  made  by  the  prisoners.  The  total  ex- 
pense has  amounted  to  approximately  $100,000  in  depreciated 
bank  notes  or  $60,000  in  silver.  If  the  prison  had  been  built  by 
regular  labor,  it  would  have  cost  between  $300,000  and  $400,000 
silver.  Work  on  the  buildings  was  still  going  on  in  1919  and 
gave  employment  to  164  men. 

The  prison  shops  were  started  with  a  capital  of  $500  borrowed 
from  the  Law  Department,  but  they  have  developed  until  now, 
as  the  result  of  the  prisoners'  work,  their  capital  is  $15,000  and 
$3,000  has  been  returned  in  payment  of  the  original  loan.  The 
men  are  assigned  to  work  as  follows,  less  than  i  percent  of  the 
prisoners  being  unemployed : 

Building    164      Tailoring    21 

Breadmaking    126      Printing    13 

Cleaning 51      Animal  Raising 6 

Raising  Flowers 43  Farm  work  outside  the  prison 

Shoemaking • 36         walls    17 

Cooking 33      Making   Mattresses    16 

Carpentering    30      Barber  Shop  14 

Bamboo  and  Cane  Work 17      Blacksmithing  „ 8 

Laundry    24      Making  Willow  Boxes 5 

Weaving  23                                                             

Total   647 

As  in  the  First  Peking  Prison,  the  men  are  taken  out  of 
their  cells  in  summertime  at  5  o'clock  and  locked  up  at  6.  Dur- 
ing the  winter,  they  come  out  at  8  o'clock  and  go  in  at  4.  There 


\ 


316  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

is  no  work  on  holidays  and  the  men  spend  the  entire  day  in 
their  cells.  They  are  given  an  hour's  rest  at  noon  every  day  and 
half  an  hour's  exercise  in  the  open  air.  As  soon  as  the  prison 
buildings  and  walls  are  completed,  the  men  will  discard  the 
ankle  shackles  now  worn.  The  single  cells  are  5  x  7  x  10  feet 
while  those  for  five  men  are  12x12x10. 

The  management  of  the  prison  is  in  the  hands  of  a  superin- 
tendent and  eleven  assistants,  while  the  teaching  and  guarding  of 
the  prisoners  are  done  by  150  men.  The  salaries  of  the  wardens 
amount  to  $1,100  a  month,  while  the  guards  and  teachers  receive 
$1,600  a  month.  Food  for  the  prisoners  costs  $2,100  a  month 
and  general  expenses  amount  to  $1,100,  making  the  total  approxi- 
mately $6,000  a  month. 

The  fine  sanitary  condition  of  the  prison  is  reflected  by  the 
number  of  deaths  among  the  prisoners.  Under  the  old  conditions, 
before  any  improvements  were  made,  100  out  of  400  men  died 
in  a  year's  time.  Now,  although  the  prison  has  an  average  popu- 
lation of  less  than  800,  it  is  handling  about  1,000  men  a  year. 
Even  so,  the  largest  number  of  deaths  in  a  year  has  been  70  and 
the  lowest  n. 

Although  the  prison  walls  are  still  unfinished  and  many  of 
the  men  are  working  outside  the  walls,  there  have  been  only  two 
escapes  in  five  years. 

THE   EXTENSION    PRISON 

As  the  model  prisons  accept  only  long  term  men,  those  who 
have  a  short  sentence  to  serve  are  sent  to  the  Extension  Prison 
(P  2,  Map  No.  22),  adjoining  the  buildings  of  the  Department 
of  Justice.  This  prison  was  built  before  the  model  prison  plan 
was  developed,  but  except  for  the  fact  that  the  buildings  are  of  a 
different  type  it  is  fully  up  to  the  standard  of  the  other  prisons. 
Everything  is  kept  scrupulously  clean,  and  the  sanitary  rules 
and  regulations  are  fully  enforced.  As  the  men  are  there  for 
only  a  short  time,  no  attempt  is  made  to  give  them  work  in  the 
trades  that  require  a  long  period  of  training.  Many  are  given 
work  in  agriculture  and  floriculture  on  the  grounds  of  the  gov- 
ernment buildings.  Those  who  work  outside  the  prison  go  out 
in  squads  of  ten,  accompanied  by  a  warden,  the  men  being 
chained  together  in  pairs  by  a  light  chain  around  their  waists 
that  is  long  enough  not  to  interfere  with  their  work  but  that 
would  hamper  them  in  case  of  any  attempt  to  escape. 

Work  inside  the  walls,  besides  the  necessary  cooking,  clean- 
ing, etc.,  consists  of  tailoring,  making  match-boxes  and  grind- 
ing grain.  Stone  mills  turned  by  four  men  are  used  for  the  lat- 
ter, but  as  it  is  fairly  heavy  work,  the  men  are  allowed  to  rest 


PRISONS  317 

an  hour  and  a  half  after  a  half  hour  on  the  mill  and  sit  around 
the  walls  of  the  workroom  in  complete  silence. 

Executions  by  hanging  are  carried  out  in  this  prison,  but 
executions  by  shooting  take  place  outside  the  city  wall. 

CHING   CHAO    FIRST    REFORMED    PRISON 

The  Ching  Chao  First  Reformed  Prison,  located  just  outside 
the  west  wall  of  the  South  City  (P,  Map  No.  22),  is  the  princi- 
pal prison  of  the  Metropolitan  District,  and  is  also  one  of  the 
model  prisons  of  Peking,  although  its  prisoners  all  come  from 
the  outside  hsien.  Its  buildings,  part  Chinese  and  part  foreign 
style,  are  of  recent  construction,  the  prison  being  opened  in  the 
4th  year  of  the  Republic  (1915),  and  are  built  in  rows  rather 
than  on  the  radiating  plan  of  the  First  Peking  Prison.  Aside 
from  this  difference,  the  prison  is  very  similar  to  the  other  model 
prisons.  The  living  conditions  are  clean  and  healthful,  six 
or  seven  different  trades  are  being  taught,  young  prisoners  who 
are  illiterate  are  given  two  hours  of  school  work  a  day,  the  men 
are  paid  a  small  amount  for  their  work  and  are  allowed  to  re- 
ceive one  visitor  and  write  one  letter  a  month. 

In  1917  the  prison  was  caring  for  250  men  sent  from  12  of 
the  20  hsien  of  the  Metropolitan  District.  From  the  accom- 
panying tables,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  prisoners  in  the  Ching 
Chao  prison  are  an  older  group  than  those  in  the  First  Peking 
Prison — only  13  percent  being  under  26  years  of  age  and  30  per- 
cent under  31,  as  compared  with  42  percent  under  26  and  78 
percent  less  than  31  years  of  age;  that  a  larger  proportion  of  the 
men  are  guilty  of  robbery  and  theft,  61  percent  as  compared  with 
53  percent,  and  that  35  percent  are  guilty  of  crimes  against  persons 
— assault,  rape,  kidnaping.  In  1917,  the  annual  expenses  of  the 
prison  amounted  to  $20,961.20. 

CHING  CHAO  FIRST  REFORMED  PRISON    < 
Crimes  and  Ages  of  Prisoners — 1917 

CRIME  NUMBER 

Robbery    147 

Assault  with  knife 82 

Theft    6 

Rape 5 

Blocking  the  road  3 

Securing  money  under  false  pretenses 2 

Forgery  

Kidnaping  

False  accusation 

Jailers  allowing  escape   

Rebellion    

Total    .  250 


818  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

AGE  NUMBER  PBRCENT 

16-20 2  I 

21-25 30  12 

26-30 42  17 

31-40 ioo  40 

41-50 55  22 

51-60 16  6 

60  and  over 5  2 

Total    250  ioo 

The  other  prisons  of  the  city  are  those  of  the  Army,  the  Mili- 
tary Guard  and  the  police.  Jails  are  also  maintained  by  the 
Metropolitan  District  and  the  police. 

The  Christian  forces  of  the  city  have  taken  advantage  of  the 
fact  that  the  prisons  are  open  to  them  and  are  working  with  the 
prisoners.  The  pioneer  work  was  done  by  one  of  the  men  in  the 
employ  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  but  the  field 
was  found  to  be  so  large  that  the  Anglican,  Methodist,  American 
Board  (Congregational)  and  Presbyterian  Churches  joined  in 
the  work.  In  order  that  it  might  be  efficiently  done,  the  work 
has  been  put  under  a  union  organization,  with  one  of  the  secre- 
taries of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  acting  as  execu- 
tive officer.  Groups  of  church  members  go  to  the  prisons  regu- 
larly, ordinarily  once  a  week,  talk  and  preach  to  the  prisoners 
during  their  noon  rest  period,  and  are  also  given  an  opportunity 
of  doing  personal  work  with  the  men.  Ordinarily  the  church  mem- 
bers working  in  the  prisons  go  to  the  one  nearest  their  church, 
so  there  is  no  overlapping  of  effort. 

So  far  as  we  can  see,  the  only  thing  about  the  work  of  the 
model  prisons  that  might  be  criticized  is  the  rule  that  requires 
silence  on  the  part  of  the  prisoners,  not  only  at  their  work  but 
even  when  they  are  in  their  cells.  They  are  allowed  to  talk  about 
the  necessary  details  of  their  work,  but. are  not  supposed  to  com- 
municate about  anything  else,  and  in  visiting  a  prison  one  is  struck 
with  the  silence.  Prison  experience  the  world  over  has  proved 
that  a  rule  requiring  silence  does  not  prevent  the  men  from  com- 
municating with  each  other,  and  if  care  were  taken  in  assigning  the 
men  to  their  cells,  any  evil  influence  that  might  come  from  allowing 
the  men  to  talk  freely  would  be  more  than  offset  by  the  fact  that 
the  men  were  leading  a  more  normal  life.  Furthermore,  the  time 
that  the  men  are  in  their  cells  might  well  be  used  for  one  of  the 
better  educated  men  to  teach  or  read  to  his  cell-mates. 

Some  people  have  criticized  the  fact  that  the  living  conditions 
in  the  model  prison  are  apt  to  be  better  than  those  to  which  the 
men  are  accustomed  outside,  but  we  could  find  no  evidence  that 
any  of  the  men  are  making  a  "home"  of  the  prison.  There  is 
enough  prison  routine  and  supervision  to  make  the  men  want 


PRISONS  319 

to  lead  an  independent  life,  although  for  many  their  prison  ex- 
perience may  be  a  blessing  in  disguise,  giving  them  industrial 
training  as  well  as  an  experience  with  sanitation  and  cleanliness, 
that  the  ordinary  worker  seldom  gets.  One  is  distinctly  struck  by 
the  difference  in  appearance  of  the  faces  of  the  prisoners  in 
the  hsien  prisons  and  in  the  model  prisons.  In  the  former, 
one  finds  many  of  the  hard,  bitter  faces  that  are  often  known  as 
the  criminal  type,  and  even  during  a  short  visit  one  feels  the  gen- 
eral atmosphere  of  resentment  and  bitterness.  In  the  model 
prison,  on  the  other  hand,  the  hard  and  bitter  faces  are  con- 
spicuous by  their  absence  and  the  whole  atmosphere  of  the 
prison  is  very  different.  One  feels  that  the  men  are  not  anxious 
to  be  in  prison,  but  that  the  living  and  working  conditions  are 
such  that  they  are  not  made  bitter  by  their  confinement. 

The  wardens  of  the  model  prisons,  having  realized  from 
experience  the  difficulty  with  which  a  prisoner  returns  to  normal 
life,  organized  in  1919  the  Prisoners'  Relief  Association,  so  that 
there  might  be  some  organization  that  would  care  for  the  prisoner 
on  his  release,  give  him  a  place  where  he  might  live,  provide 
him  with  temporary  work,  and  help  him  secure  regular  employ- 
ment. By  a  city- wide  campaign,  the  Association  was  able  to  I  f 
raise  some  $10,000  and  has  opened  a  Kung  Ch'ang  (workshop)  J 
to  which  the  prisoners  can  go  upon  their  release.  Judging  by 
the  ordinary  American  conditions,  it  is  unusual  to  find  prison 
wardens  taking  such  an  interest  in  the  prisoners. 

Apparently  the  rapid  progress  of  the  model  prison  movement 
has  been  made  possible  by  the  fact  that  the  prison  work  has,  so 
far,  been  kept  out  of  politics,  and,  once  appointed,  the  prison 
wardens  have  been  able  to  develop  their  plans  and  institutions. 
Fortunately  for  China,  the  wardens  of  the  Peking  prisons,  at 
least,  have  been  men  of  vision  who  have  not  been  afraid  to  dis- 
regard precedent  and  develop  a  type  of  prison  work  different 
from  anything  that  China  has  known  in  the  past.  It  will  be  a 
sorry  day  for  China's  prison  work  if  the  heads  of  the  prisons  ' 
are  appointed  because  of  political  service  rather  than  fitness  for 
their  positions.  The  wonder  of  it  is  that,  in  spite  of  the  many 
political  changes  that  have  occurred  in  Peking  during  the  past 
few  years,  the  prison  work  has  gone  on  practically  undisturbed. 
Since  the  completion  of  our  field  work,  however,  we  have  heard 
that  one  of  the  chief  wardens  has  been  confined  in  his  own 
prison,  on  a  technical  charge  but  principally  because  of  his 
political  affiliation. 

The  remarkable  progress  that  has  been  made  by  the  prison 
movement  is  the  result  of  the  efforts  of  a  few  men  of  broad 
vision,  who  have  influenced  not  only  Peking  but  the  entire  coun- 
try as  well.  Even  Yunnan,  the  furthermost  province  in  the 


320  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

southwest,  has  its  model  prison.  This  fact  should  be  a  source 
of  inspiration  to  those  who  would  develop  other  reform  move- 
ments. A  few  men  can  influence  the  entire  country  if  they  are 
working  along  lines  in  which  there  is  evident  need  for  reform 
and  improvement,  especially  if  their  work  is  done  in  one  of  the 
influential  centers  of  the  country. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
TENG  SHIH  K'OU  DISTRICT1 

Going  up  and  down  the  streets  of  Peking,  looking  in  at  the 
numerous  shops  along  the  roads,  seeing  the  families  more  or  less 
on  the  streets,  and  speculating  on  what  might  be  going  on  behind 
the  gates  of  the  residences,  one  cannot  help  wondering  just  what 
a  Chinese  community  would  show  if  it  were  studied  in  detail. 
Of  course  it  is  easy  to  find  the  high  spots,  where  there  is  par- 
ticular wealth  or  particular  poverty,  where  the  people  are  espe- 
cially crowded  in  some  store  or  where  there  is  a  group  of  appren- 
tices that  are  suffering  from  overwork,  but  the  question  keeps 
recurring  again  and  again,  What  are  the  average  figures  for  such 
a  community  and  what  are  the  facts  that  cannot  be  discovered 
from  superficial  observation?  We  hesitated  to  attempt  the  study 
of  even  a  small  district  as  there  would  be  a  great  many  individuals 
to  deal  with  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  persuade  them  that  the 
information  was  for  the  benefit  of  the  community  and  that  the 
people  gathering  the  data  were  actuated  by  disinterested  motives. 
Consequently  it  would  be  hard  to  get  correct  answers  to  any 
questions.  It  was  the  police  census  that  furnished  us  the  needed 
information  and  made  it  possible  to  study  a  section  of  the 
city  in  detail,  at  least  as  far  as  figures  and  percentages  can  tell 
the  story  of  a  community.  Mr.  Shen,  the  head  of  the  Police 
District  Inside  Left  2,  not  only  permitted  us  to  study  the  census 
returns  but  very  kindly  had  a  copy  made  that  summarized  the 
information  for  each  house  in  the  district  chosen  for  study. 
This  gave  the  name  of  the  head  of  the  house,  his  age,  birth-place, 
business  and  religion,  the  number  of  men,  women,  boys  and  girls 
living  in  the  house  and  also  the  number  of  workers  and  appren- 
tices employed.  The  police  also  marked  the  families  that  they 
considered  to  be  destitute. 

The  district  selected  for  study  was  that  adjacent  to  the  Ameri- 
can Board  Teng  Shih  K'ou  Church,  so  that  the  investigation 
would  not  only  give  the  picture  of  a  section  of  Peking,  but  also 
of  the  district  that  would  be  the  natural  field  in  which  the  church's 
efforts  toward  social  betterment  would  be  exerted,  for  it  was 
hoped  that  the  story  of  the  needs  of  the  district  would  stimulate 

1  The  Appendix  gives  several  interesting  lists  and  tables:  number  of  houses,  stores 
and  residences  on  all  the  streets  of  this  district;  division  of  the  population,  by 
age,  sex,  industry,  religion,  and  classification  of  industries  and  occupations. 

321 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

the  church  to  the  development  of  a  community  program.  The  dis- 
trict was  approximately  square  (see  map)  and  had  an  area  of 
one  square  li  (]/&  of  a  square  mile).  It  was  naturally  set  off 
from  the  rest  of  the  city  by  four  loo-foot  highways  and  it  seemed 
best  to  follow  this  natural  division,  even  though  the  church  was 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  district  and  its  field  would,  therefore, 
cover  more  than  the  area  studied.  The  district  included  resi- 
dences, stores  and  shops,  rich  and  poor,  and  so  served  to  give  a 
good  composite  picture  of  the  city.  Business,  for  the  most  part, 
was  located  on  the  highways  bounding  the  four  sides  of  the  dis- 
trict, and  on  the  two  main  roads  running  through  its  center. 
Residences  predominated  on  most  of  the  smaller  and  less  fre- 
quented hut'ungs  (small  streets).  The  shops  on  the  highways 
naturally  deal  in  goods  that  appeal  to  the  traffic  that  is  constantly 
going  by,  especially  on  Hatamen  Street,  which  is  the  chief  north 
and  south  artery  of  travel  on  the  east  side  of  the  North  City. 
The  stores  on  Pao  Fang  Hut'ung,  the  main  east  and  west  street 
of  the  district,  deal  more  in  the  everyday  necessities  of  life,  food, 
fuel,  clothes,  while  Ta  Tou  Fu  Hsiang,  the  main  north  and  south 
street,  is  given  over  almost  entirely  to  slaughter  houses. 

In  the  northeast  corner  of  the  district  was  a  group  of  streets, 
Kung  Chi  en  Ta  Yuan  (Bow  and  Arrow  Street),  that  was  as 
interesting  as  any  we  found  in  the  city.  There,  away  from  the 
bustle  and  traffic  of  the  highway,  were  grouped  the  shops  of 
the  bow  and  arrow  makers,  some  making  long  bows  and 
feather-tipped  arrows,  others  making  cross  bows  to  shoot  clay 
marbles.  And  many  a  boy  can  be  seen  bringing  home  a 
string  of  small  birds  that  he  has  shot  with  one  of  these  cross 
bows.  Then  there  are  gold  and  silver  shops  where  men,  sitting 
on  benches  like  saw  horses  and  working  with  a  few  simple  tools, 
make  dishes  of  elaborate  pattern.  In  one  corner  is  a  shop  where 
the  men  are  busy  cutting  out  saddle  trees  and  material  for  boxes, 
while  just  next  door  they  are  making  copper  kettles,  dishes  and 
pans,  starting  with  the  sheet  copper  and  gradually  beating  it  out 
with  hammer  and  anvil  into  the  desired  shape  and  thickness. 
There  are  stores  occupied  by  the  curio  dealers  with  their  assort- 
ment of  porcelain,  bronze  and  other  things,  wonderfully  inter- 
esting places  to  spend  an  hour  and  keen  men  with  whom  to  make 
a  bargain.  Besides  these  there  are  cloth  and  tea  shops,  pipe 
stores,  shops  where  they  make  reed  mats,  another  for  paper 
clothes,  silk  thread  stores,  a  sword  shop  and  one  that  deals  in 
pig  bristles.  Mixed  in  with  all  these  are  a  number  of  residences, 
usually  one  or  two  rooms  for  each  family,  and,  as  there  is  no 
traffic  on  the  roads  except  now  and  then  some  one  bringing  in 
supplies  for  the  shops,  much  of  the  life  is  out  where  it  can  be 
seen. 


TENG  SHIH  K'OU  DISTRICT 


B-  Bath  House 
c-Chapcl 
H-  Hotel 


*-Police  Officer 
*-School 
x -Toilet 


R  -  Internationa)  Reform  Bureau          4  -Temple 


M-Military  Guard  •-Well 

Mo-Manchu  Office  w-Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union 

Figure  23 :    Teng  Shih  K'ou  District 


v-Yamen 

is  Police  Sub-headquarters 

-  Water  Mains 

—  Sewers 

o  Water  Hydrant 

o  Sewer  Openings 


Similar  but  even  more  varied  are  the  shops  along  Hatamen 
Street,  where  there  are  some  fifty-five  different  kinds  of  stores. 
Some  merely  sell  things  made  elsewhere,  while  others  have  men 
busy  making  the  articles  in  which  they  deal.  There  are  china 
stores  with  dishes  up  to  the  ceiling,  stove  stores  with  the  men 
walking  round  and  round  shaping  the  clay  stoves  without  even 
the  help  of  a  potter's  wheel,  tea  shops  with  the  people  sitting 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

around  drinking  tea  and  gossiping,  cooked  food  shops  with  the 
cooks  busy  over  the  fire  and  the  steam  rising  from  the  bread 
steamers,  clothes  shops  with  salesmen  out  in  front  of  them 
handling  over  big  piles  of  garments  one  by  one,  telling  in  song 
the  good  points  of  each,  a  coffin  shop  with  large  finished  coffins 
in  the  front  of  the  store  and  men  making  others  in  the  back  court- 
yard, foreign  drug  stores  and  stores  selling  electric  goods,  etc., 
bicycle  stores,  carriage  companies,  ricksha  repair  shops,  fortune- 
tellers, barbers,  carpenters,  carpet  makers,  exchange  shops,  laun- 
dries and  so  on. 

Chu  Shih  Ta  Chieh,  or  Pig  Market  Street,  which  bounds  the 
district  on  the  north,  is  one  of  the  main  east  and  west  thorough- 
fares of  the  city,  leading  as  it  does  from  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men,  one 
of  the  gates  in  the  east  wall.  It  is  given  over  for  the  most  part 
to  second-hand  stores  and  to  the  buying  and  selling  of  pigs.  It 
is  the  big  pig  market  of  the  East  City  and  nearly  every  morning 
droves  of  pigs  are  brought  in  for  sale.  They  are  laid  along  the 
unpaved  road  with  their  feet  tied  together  until  the  slaughter 
house  managers  come  to  make  their  purchases.  Then,  as  soon 
as  a  sale  is  made,  they  are  carried  off  on  a  pole,  feet  up,  head 
down  and  violently  protesting,  to  the  slaughter  houses  on  Ta  Tou 
Fu  Hsiang,  or  other  nearby  streets. 

The  outstanding  buildings  on  Teng  Shih  K'ou  are  those  oc- 
cupied by  the  American  Board  Mission  and  the  work  connected 
with  it.  A  school,  a  chapel,  the  headquarters  of  the  Women's 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  face  directly  on  the  street,  while 
inside  a  large  gateway  is  the  Mission  Compound  with  its  church 
and  parish  house,  girls'  school,  building  for  women's  work  and 
six  residences  for  the  foreign  workers.  The  Compound  is  now 
one  of  the  beauty  spots  of  Peking,  although  it  was  entirely  de- 
stroyed by  the  Boxers  in  1900.  To  those  who  come  from  other 
lands  it  is  particularly  pleasing,  as  it  is  one  of  the  few  places  in 
the  city  where  green  grass  can  be  seen. 

Besides  its  regular  church  work,  the  American  Board  Mission 
has  in  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  District  a  kindergarten  for  90  chil- 
dren, primary  schools  for  400  boys  and  girls,  a  middle  school  for 
girls  with  120  students  and  a  Women's  Bible  Training  School 
with  22  in  attendance.  A  Union  Kindergarten  Training  School 
and  a  coeducational  Union  Normal  School  are  also  located  in  the 
mission  buildings. 

Other  buildings  that  would  be  noticed  by  one  going  along 
Teng  Shih  K'ou  are  the  big  residence  of  a  Mongolian  Prince  with 
its  big  gate  and  long  wall,  the  headquarters  of  the  police  and 
Military  Guard,  two  hotels  and  several  bookstores. 

Wang  Fu  Ching  Ta  Chieh,  or,  as  it  is  known  in  English, 
Morrison  Street,  in  honor  of  the  late  Dr.  Morrison,  who  was 


TENG  SHIH  K'OU  DISTRICT  325 

for  many  years  the  legal  adviser  of  the  President  is  the  quietest 
of  the  four  streets  bounding  the  district.  The  gateways  opening 
on  it  are  few  in  number,  only  26,  as  compared  with  the  115  on 
Hatamen  Street,  and  almost  two-thirds  of  the  buildings  are  resi- 
dences. The  big  majority  of  the  stores  are  engaged  in  wood 
working.  The  outstanding  buildings  on  the  street  are  a  large 
Yamen  for  the  Manchu  Bannermen,  a  large  factory  for  the  manu- 
facture of  cloth,  and  the  headquarters  of  the  International  Re- 
form Bureau,  a  society  that  is  particularly  interested  in  the  sup- 
pression of  the  opium,  morphine  and  cocaine  evils. 

Yen  Ching  College,  the  Women's  Department  of  the  Peking 
University,  is  located  in  the  T'ung  Fu,  a  former  residence  of  one 
of  the  Manchurian  princesses.  Up  to  this  year  this  Union  Mis- 
sion Institution  was  the  only  school  in  North  China  that  was 
giving  collegiate  training  to  Chinese  women.  Now  the  Govern- 
ment University  is  trying  an  experiment  in  coeducation  and  has 
admitted  a  few  girls.  At  present,  some  125  girls  are  attending 
the  Yen  Ching  College. 

Just  across  the  street  from  the  Women's  College,  Ts'ao  Ju 
Lin,  a  former  Minister  of  Communications  and  of  Finance,  has 
built  a  large  three-story  foreign  style  house  as  a  home  for  some 
of  the  members  of  his  large  family. 

The  other  streets  of  the  district  are  for  the  most  part  small 
hut'ungs  where  residences  predominate.  Going  along  them, 
one  sees  practically  nothing  except  long  walls  broken  here  and 
there  by  a  gateway.  There  are  but  few  people  coming  and  going 
and  only  by  an  occasional  glimpse  through  an  open  gateway  can 
one  get  any  idea  of  the  life  that  is  going  on  in  the  courtyards 
inside  the  high  walls.  Only  on  Kuan  Fang  Ta  Yuan  do  the 
homes  open  onto  the  street,  and  those  houses  are  of  course  the 
least  desirable  of  any  in  the  district. 

The  water  supply  of  the  district  comes  either  from  some  ten 
wells  or  from  the  mains  of  the  Peking  Water  Company.  The 
company's  pipes  are  found  on  all  four  of  the  streets  bounding  tlrj 
district,  on  the  main  streets  running  through  the  center  of  th^ 
district  and  also  on  To  Fu  Hsiang.  Not  many  houses  are  sup- 
plied with  running  water.  Plumbing  is  expensive  and  one  copper 
buys  only  ten  gallons  of  water.  Consequently,  most  of  the  water 
has  to  be  carried  in  buckets  or  wheelbarrows  from  the  wells  or 
street  hydrants  and  the  people  buy  their  water  by  the  bucketful. 

A  system  of  sewers  along  the  highways  around  the  district, 
on  the  main  streets  through  the  center  of  the  district,  on  Chien 
Ch'ang  and  Yu  Shao  Hut'ungs  and  on  Ta  Po  Ko  Shih  take  care 
of  the  drainage.  On  the  streets  where  there  are  sewers,  most  of 
the  houses  are  connected  with  them,  but  on  the  other  streets 
the  waste  water  is  collected  in  large  buckets  and  then  carried  out 


326  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

and  emptied  into  the  sewer,  through  large  openings,  the  wooden 
covers  of  which  are  usually  open. 

The  smells  of  the  district  are  concentrated  around  the  public 
toilets,  of  which  there  are  ten.  Some  of  these  are  inside  small 
buildings,  but  most  of  them  are  open  or  at  best  surrounded  by  a 
low  dirt  wall.  These  toilets  are  dipped  out  every  day  by  wheel- 
barrow men  who  lease  the  privilege  from  the  police. 

In  the  entire  district  there  are  1,509  different  houses.  Of 
these,  493  are  shops  or  stores,  925  are  residences,  while  69  tem- 
ples, schools,  yamens  and  other  official  buildings,  hotels  and  lodg- 
ing houses,  bathhouses  and  mission  buildings  are  included  under 
the  heading  "other  buildings/'  Of  the  total  number,  61.3  percent 
are  residences  and  32.7  percent  are  places  of  business. 

The  shops  and  stores  represent  93  different  kinds  of  business. 
One  hundred  and  six  stores  have  to  do  with  the  sale  and  slaugh- 
tering of  pigs  and  the  preparation  and  sale  of  their  bristles,  while 
80  are  dealing  in  various  kinds  of  food. 

Those  who  have  their  residences  in  the  district  are  engaged 
in  114  different  kinds  of  business.  The  largest  number,  103,  are 
those  doing  what  the  police  call  "small  business."  These  are  men 
who  have  a  small  stock  of  goods  that  they  sell  from  a  little  stand 
at  the  side  of  the  road  or  that  they  peddle  from  house  to  house, 
carrying  their  goods  in  boxes  or  baskets  slung  from  the  two  ends 
of  a  shoulder  pole.  One  hundred  soldiers  and  69  government 
officials  have  their  homes  in  the  district.  There  are  also  72 
laborers,  34  ricksha  coolies,  30  cooks,  28  carpenters,  27  servants, 
2  students  in  the  flying  school,  monks,  preachers,  fortune-tellers, 
secretaries,  type  cutters,  temple  owners,  agricultural  students. 
Combining  the  shops  and  residences,  163  different  kinds  of  occu- 
pations are  represented  in  the  district.1 

As  the  list  of  the  stores  was  being  translated  from  Chinese  to 
English  it  was  noticed  that  there  were  a  large  number  of  "feather 
stores"  in  the  district.  Several  trips  through  all  of  the  streets 
had  left  no  impression  of  stores  that  were  dealing  in  feathers, 
and  investigation  showed  that  the  "feathers"  were  "pig  feathers," 
only  the  English  language  insists  on  calling  them  "bristles." 

The  police  records  show  that  there  are  7,946  persons  living  in 
the  district,  or  an  average  of  63,000  per  square  mile.  This  is 
almost  twice  the  average  of  the  entire  city,  33,626  per  square 
mile,  but  it  is  only  a  little  more  than  the  56,000  per  square  mile 
which  is  the  average  for  the  police  district  in  which  the  smaller 
district  is  located.  That  the  people  are  more  crowded  in  the 
small  district  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  since  so  much  of  the  busi- 
ness of  the  police  district  is  done  along  Hatamen  Street  and  Chu 
Shih  Ta  Chieh.  When  63  percent  of  the  buildings  facing  on 

1  See  Appendix  for  complete  list. 


THE   SLAUGHTER   HOUSE   SIGN,   PIG   BLADDERS. 

Ta  Tou  Fu  Hsiang,  one  of  the  chief  slaughter  house  streets  of  the   city. 


DELIVERING    LIVE-STOCK    IN    PEKING. 

Sold  and  on  their  wav  to  the  slaughter  house — Chu  Shih  Ta  Chieh   (Pig  Market 
Street)    Teng   Shih    K'ou   District. 


^'^™^^i      . 


TENG  SHIH   K'OU   CHURCH,  AMERICAN    BOARD   MISSION. 


BOW  AND  ARROW  STREET. 

Rung  Chien  Ta  Yuan  or  Bow  and  Arrow  Street  is  one  of  the  many  evidences 
of  the  tenacity  of  habit  in  Chinese  life.  Here  are  made  and  sold  old  time 
weapons  as  they  probably  have  been  made  and  sold  in  this  very  street  for 
perhaps  a  thousand  years. 


TENG  SHIH  K'OU  DISTRICT  327 

Hatamen  Street  have  a  frontage  of  12  feet  or  less,  and  only  6 
percent  have  over  24  feet,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  the  people  are 
crowded  in,  particularly  as  there  are  1,045  people  living  in  these 
houses,  while  there  are  only  291  living  in  those  on  Wang  Fu 
Ching  Ta  Chieh,  the  corresponding  street  on  the  west  side  of  the 
district.  The  congestion  due  to  business  is  also  shown  by  the 
fact  that  38  percent  of  the  people  live  on  the  streets  where  busi- 
ness predominates,  while  those  same  streets  have  only  34  percent 
of  the  houses. 

Of  the  7,946  persons  living  in  the  district,  5,214  are  men  and 
772  boys,  a  total  of  5,986  males,  or  75.4  percent  of  the  population. 
The  women  number  1,388  and  the  girls  572,  a  total  of  1,660 
females.  While  this  proportion  of  males  is  much  higher  than 
that  for  the  entire  city  (63.5  percent),  it  is  not  surprising  as  so 
much  of  the  district  is  given  over  to  business.  It  corresponds 
almost  exactly  with  the  figures  of  the  police  districts  in  the  South 
City,  where  much  of  the  business  of  Peking  is  concentrated  (72.2- 
77.2  percent  for  Police  Districts  Outside  Left  I,  2,  5,  and  Outside 
Right  i).  The  figures  for  each  street  in  the  district  show  even 
more  strikingly  the  high  proportion  of  men  that  is  found  where- 
ever  the  shops  and  stores  predominate.  On  those  streets  where 
the  proportion  of  residences  is  low  (less  than  30  percent),  the 
percentage  of  males  is  always  high.  On  all  the  eight  business 
streets  the  population  is  over  82  percent  male,  on  seven  it  is  over 
90  percent,  and  on  two  it  is  a  complete  100  percent.  Since  so 
many  of  the  Chinese  live  where  they  work  and  but  few  stores 
employ  any  women,  the  large  preponderance  of  males  in  the 
business  district  is  easily  explained.  Only  51  (10  percent)  of 
the  stores  in  the  district  employ  any  women,  so  practically  all 
the  females  found  on  the  business  streets  are  either  in  the  few 
residences  or  else  are  living  in  the  store  buildings  as  part  of  the 
family  of  the  store  owner  or  manager. 

On  those  streets  where  the  proportion  of  residences  is  high 
(over  50  percent),  the  proportion  of  females  is  much  larger.  On 
two  streets  they  predominate  (53.5  and  50.5  percent),  and  on  ten 
others  they  constitute  from  40  to  50  percent  of  the  population. 
On  Morrison  Street  and  Lang  Chia  Ta  Yuan,  two  streets  where 
residences  predominate,  over  81  percent  of  the  population  is 
male.  Five  lodging  houses  for  laborers  and  a  large  cloth  factory 
employing  over  100  men  will  account  for  this  high  proportion  of 
men  on  Morrison  Street,  while  on  Lang  Chia  Ta  Yuan,  where 
there  are  only  a  few  houses,  there  are  several  large  bristle  and 
soap  stores. 

There  are  44  homes  in  the  district  (5  percent)  in  which  there 
are  no  men,  and  a  woman  is  consequently  the  head  of  the  house, 
while  in  132  residences  (14  percent)  there  are  no  women. 


328  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

Just  as  the  population  density  of  the  small  district  is  higher 
than  that  of  the  police  district  and  the  figures  for  both  of  these 
are  higher  than  for  the  entire  city,  so  the  average  number  of 
people  living  in  each  house  is  highest  in  the  small  district,  5.26. 
In  the  Police  District  Left  Inside  2,  the  average  is  5.1,  while  for 
all  of  Peking  it  is  4.9.  On  the  different  streets  in  the  small  district 
the  average  number  of  persons  per  house  varies  from  3.2  to  17.8, 
though  on  only  four  of  the  twenty-eight  streets  is  it  8  or  more. 
All  four  of  these  are  streets  where  business  predominates.  On 
all  of  them  over  94  percent  of  the  population  is  male  and  on  three 
of  them  over  97  percent.  The  two  streets  with  the  largest  average 
number  of  persons  per  house  (12.4  and  17.8)  are  both  small 
streets.  On  one  of  them  are  only  five  houses,  while  there  are  but 
seven  on  the  other.  There  are  no  residences  on  either  street,  and 
the  population  on  both  is  100  percent  male.  On  one  the  number 
of  persons  per  house  is  high  (12.4)  because  all  of  the  building^ 
are  slaughter  houses,  while  on  the  other  the  average  is  brougfvt 
up  to  17.8  because  two  of  the  seven  houses  are  lodging  houses 
for  laborers  where  the  men  are  crowded  in  as  closely  as  possible. 

The  division  between  adults  and  minors  is  made  by  the  police 
at  1 6  years  of  age,  Chinese  reckoning,  or  15  years,  foreign  reckon- 
ing. It  so  happens  that  the  proportion  of  the  population  in  the 
district  under  16  years  of  age  corresponds  almost  exactly  with 
that  of  the  entire  city.  The  figures  are  17  percent  for  the  district 
and  17.3  percent  for  all  of  Peking.  The  correspondence  for  the 
males  and  females  is  not  quite  so  close.  In  the  city  16.1  percent 
of  the  male  population  is  under  16  years  of  age,  but  in  the  district 
13  percent  are  minors.  For  the  females  the  figures  are  19.5 
percent  for  the  city  and  29.2  percent  for  the  district. 

According  to  the  police  figures,  there  are  only  339  apprentices 
working  in  the  stores  of  the  district,  although  there  are  2,008 
employees  and  493  store  managers,  or  about  one  apprentice  to 
every  six  workers.  According  to  the  figures  found  in  the  study 
of  the  membership  of  the  various  gilds  in  the  city,  the  number 
of  apprentices  was  approximately  one-third  that  of  the  workers. 
From  the  figures  for  the  individual  streets,  this  difference  seems 
to  arise  because  most  of  the  slaughter  houses  are  using  but  few 
apprentices.  On  Ta  Tou  Fu  Hsiang,  the  chief  slaughter  house 
street  in  the  district,  there  is  only  one  apprentice  for  every  37 
workers. 

Confucianism  is  the  religion  of  916  (62.5  percent)  of  those 
who  are  the  heads  of  the  various  stores  and  residences  of  the 
district.  Of  the  remainder  some  365  (25  percent)  say  that  they 
are  Buddhists,  while  89  are  Christian.  Of  these,  8  are  Cath- 
olics, members  of  the  nearby  Cathedral,  while  practically  all  of 
the  8 1  Protestants  attend  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  Church. 


TENG  SHIH  K'OU  DISTRICT 

There  are  82  men  who  say  they  are  Mohammedans,  but  when  62 
of  these  are  found  on  Ta  Tou  Fu  Hsiang,  the  chief  slaughter 
house  street  of  the  district,  it  is  rather  apparent  that  some  one 
has  been  having  some  fun  at  the  expense  of  the  police  record  and 
that  the  police  have  made  no  special  effort  to  check  the  correct- 
ness of  that  information  even  though  they  have  been  very  careful 
to  get  accurate  replies  to  their  other  questions.  The  great  pre- 
ponderance of  Confucianists  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.  Studies 
made  elsewhere  in  China  have  shown  that  it  is  perfectly  possible 
for  a  man  to  be  a  Buddhist,  a  Taoist  and  a  Confucianist  all  at 
the  same  time,  and  that  because  of  the  standing  of  Confucianism; 
a  man  will  usually  claim  that  as  his  religion,  even  though  he 
believes  in  the  others  as  well. 

In  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  District  there  are  46  families,  with 
233  members  (3  percent  of  the  population)  that  the  police  con- 
sider to  be  "poor,"  or  "very  poor,"  that  is,  their  income  is  less 
than  $65  a  year  if  there  are  only  two  in  a  family,  or  $95  a  year 
for  a  family  of  four.  As  would  be  expected,  most  of  these 
families  are  living  on  the  least  desirable  streets  of  the  district. 
Thirty-three  of  the  46  families  are  living  on  the  three  streets, 
Hsiao  Yang  Shih,  Hsiao  Po  Ko  Shih  and  Kuan  Fang  Ta  Yuan, 
but  some  poor  families  can  be  found  on  9  of  the  28  streets. 

The  average  number  of  persons  in  the  poor  families  is  5.1, 
or  almost  the  same  as  the  average  number  of  persons  per  house 
for  the  entire  district  (5.26).  There  is  not  the  difference  between 
these  figures  that  there  is  between  those  for  the  entire  city.  For 
all  of  Peking,  the  average  number  of  persons  per  house  is  4.9, 
while  the  average  size  of  the  poor  families  is  4.2.  That  the 
figures  for  the  small  district  do  not  differ  more  is  somewhat 
explained  by  the  fact  that  the  average  size  of  the  poor  families 
in  the  Police  District  Left  Inside  2  is  larger  (4.5)  than  in  any 
other  police  district  in  the  city. 

Sixty  and  five-tenths  percent  of  the  poor  people  are  males. 
This  is  a  much  lower  percentage  than  the  75.4  percent  for  the 
entire  population  of  the  district,  and  simply  shows  that  the  prob- 
lem of  poverty  is  a  family  one  and  does  not  ordinarily  involve 
many  men  who  are  living  alone.  The  same  thing  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  35  percent  of  the  poor  people  are  under  16  years  of 
age,  although  only  17  percent  of  the  population  of  the  district 
are  listed  as  minors. 

Most  of  the  poor  families  derive  what  income  they  have  from 
small  business,  from  the  army,  or  from  the  pulling  of  rickshas, 
although  there  are  also  those  who  are  servants,  masons,  police- 
men and  ex-Manchu  officials.  It  is  particularly  striking  to  note 
that  three-quarters  of  the  poor  families  say  that  they  are 
Buddhists,  and  while  almost  10  percent  of  the  Buddhist  families 


330  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

of  the  district  are  classed  as  "poor,"  only  a  little  over  I  percent 
of  the  Confucian  families  are  destitute.  It  simply  shows  that 
Confucianism  with  its  classics  and  intellectual  training  is  not 
ordinarily  the  religion  of  those  who  lack  education  and  financial 
resources. 

We  are  indebted  to  Mrs.  Fannie  S.  Wickes  of  the  American 
Board  Mission  for  the  report  of  a  personal  study  of  some  of  the 
families  in  the  district.  Living  for  a  year  on  one  of  the  small 
hut'ungs,  she  was  able  to  get  in  touch  with  her  neighbors  in 
a  way  that  would  be  impossible  in  a  more  general  survey.1  While 
her  report  covers  a  particularly  poor  district  and  one  that  is  by 
no  means  representative  of  the  entire  section,  it  does  show  some 
of  the  pressing  social  needs  of  a  Chinese  community. 

1  See  My  Nearest  Neighbors  in  Peking,  Chapter  XIV. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

MY  NEAREST  NEIGHBORS  IN  PEKING1 
By  Mrs.  Fannie  S.  Wickes 

We  moved  in  last  September.  Our  house— ours  for  the  year 
— is  the  parsonage  of  the  nearby  Chinese  (Mission)  Church  and 
stands  behind  a  high  wall  and  a  big  red  gate  at  the  end  of  a  little 
blind  alley.  This  arm  of  the  main  alley,  or  narrow  street,  is  less 
than  50  yards  long,  and  the  gray  walls  are  each  broken  on  both 
sides  by  three  gates.  When  we  first  came  I  hoped  to  get  ac- 
quainted with  the  people  living  behind  those  six  gates  and  to 
establish  a  neighborly  relation  with  them.  Circumstances  have 
prevented  that  in  a  large  measure,  but  from  observation  and 
hearsay  I  can  tell  you  something  of  them.  The  houses  are  in 
very  poor  condition,  which  means  low  rents,  which  in  turn  means 
a  poor  class  of  families  for  the  most  part ;  and  that  helps  explain 
some  things. 

Behind  the  nearest  gate  on  the  west  is  a  rough,  ill-drained 
yard  some  25  feet  square,  on  whose  north  and  west  sides  are  five 
rooms  in  an  L  shaped  line,  the  homes  of  four  families,  if  you 
please. 

At  No.  I,  as  we  might  style  it,  live  a  father  and  son;  the 
father  has  some  illness,  abscesses  I  think  he  said,  and  rarely 
leaves  the  room ;  the  son  pulls  rickshas. 

At  No.  2  live  a  shoemaker,  his  wife  and  six  children;  the 
oldest  boy,  in  the  late  teens,  helps  his  father  make  shoes — quilted 
satin  shoes  with  fur  edges,  for  gentlemen;  the  youngest  is  a 
girl  of  eighteen  months.  However  late  I  may  be  going  to  bed, 
there  the  light  still  shows  through  the  small  papered  window  that 
looks  into  our  yard,  and  often  when  I  waken  in  the  night  I  hear 
the  father  coughing. 

No.  3  is  more  palatial,  having  two  rooms ;  one  appears,  how- 
ever, to  be  used  only  as  an  entry,  parlor  and  shrine  for  the  gods 
of  the  household.  Here  lives  a  capitalist,  in  a  small  way — owner 
of  50  rickshas  that  are  rented  by  the  day  to  those  who  pull  them. 
He  is  a  tall,  gaunt  old  man  who  feels  his  dark  way  about  the 
streets  with  a  bamboo  staff.  His  wife,  a  plump,  white-haired 
woman,  helps  her  grandson's  wife  drudge  for  the  family  and 
wash  the  ricksha  seat  covers.  The  rest  of  the  household  con- 

1  The  Survey  42:671  Aug.  2,  1919. 

331 


332  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

sists  of  the  wife  of  a  son  now  dead,  and  her  five  children;  the 
oldest  is  1 6,  married,  but  attending  school  with  his  next  younger 
brother ;  the  youngest  has  barely  learned  to  walk.  The  old  folks' 
daughter-in-law  is  the  real  head  of  the  family.  She  manages  the 
ricksha  business,  brow-beats  her  daughter-in-law — a  sweet-faced 
girl  of  13,  and  quarrels  with  her  blind  father-in-law. 

At  No.  4  live  a  man  who  pulls  rickshas,  his  untidy  wife  who 
is  never  seen  without  a  cigarette,  and  their  boy  of  three.  By 
giving  a  separate  paragraph  to  each  family,  I  may  give  the  im- 
pression of  too  much  space  to  move  around  in.  Two  of  the  five 
rooms  are  10x10  and  three  6xio. 

The  next  gate  on  the  same  side  is  the  entrance  to  the  yard 
where  the  rickshas  live  in  a  big  shed ;  larger  or  smaller  groups  of 
pullers  may  be  found  about  the  gate  when  they  come  to  take  or 
return  the  rickshas. 

If  we  cross  diagonally  to  the  nearest  gate  on  the  east,  we  find 
the  really  elite  of  the  alley — a  soldier's  family.  The  man  and 
boy  (son  or  brother,  I  know  not)  both  live  at  barracks,  but  may 
occasionally  be  seen  emptying  the  brass  hand-basin  outside  the 
gate,  or  ushering  in  satin-and-fur-lined  friends.  The  resident 
family  consists  of  the  old  mother,  the  young  wife  and  a  purchased 
slave  girl.  They  have  four  rooms,  dress  in  silk  and  satin  and 
take  turns  smoking  the  water-pipe,  unless  they  happen  to  prefer 
cigarettes.  The  slave  wears  print  cotton  and  smiles  through  her 
pock  marks. 

The  next  gate  to  the  south  stands  open,  though  the  red  and 
green  screen  within  prevents  the  passer-by  from  seeing  what  lies 
beyond.  I  lived  here  four  and  one-half  months  without  seeing 
anyone  whom  I  connected  mentally  with  that  yard.  On  Chinese 
New  Year's^hight  I  learned  that,  the  night  before,  the  father  of 
the  family,  while  burning  incense  and  kneeling  to  knock  his  head 
in  reverence  before  the  gods,  had  died,  leaving  three  unmarried 
daughters  and  a  little  boy.  In  China  an  unmarried  daughter, 
unless  she  is  attending  school,  is  rarely  over  16  years  of  age. 
Picturing  to  myself  three  young  girls,  possibly  without  relatives 
in  Peking,  I  hastened  over  to  see  if  there  was  anything  I  could 
do  to  help.  I  found  the  two  rooms  at  the  south  of  the  yard  dark, 
and  the  two  at  the  north  in  possession  of  three  or  four  well- 
dressed,  middle-aged  men — dimly  visible  through  dingy  windows. 
But  I  made  bold  to  knock  and  was  cordially  received  by  two  of 
them  and  urged  to  come  in  and  sit  down  in  the  room  where  the 
father,  dressed  in  his  best,  lay  on  three  chairs,  a  handkerchief 
covering  his  face.  I  did  not  accept  this  invitation,  but  I  learned 
that  the  older  man  was  a  brother  of  the  dead  father  and  that  the 
girls  were  temporarily  at  their  aunt's  house.  I  said  that  if  I 
could  help  them  in  anything  I  should  be  glad  to  do  so. 


MY  NEAREST  NEIGHBORS  IN  PEKING        333 

The  next  morning  a  youngish  woman,  in  the  unbleached,  un- 
dyed  garments  of  mourning,  came  to  call,  accompanied  by  a  man 
with  a  bold,  hard  face.  She  knelt  before  me  and  bowed  her  head 
to  the  ground.  Then  as  she  got  up  and  told  me  that  since  I  had 
been  so  good  as  to  offer,  etc.,  she  would  like  me  to  buy  their 
house  or  take  a  mortgage  on  it.  (Needless  to  say,  I  couldn't.) 
She  told  me  she  was  32,  her  sisters  28  and  16,  and  the  little 
(purchased)  brother  3,  and  that  their  father's  death  left  them 
without  means  of  livelihood,  and  other  things  calculated  to  excite 
pity.  But  my  pity  was  kept  calm  by  various  questionings  revolv- 
ing in  my  mind.  How  did  it  happen  that  two  girls  in  the  family 
had  reached  such  mature  years  unmarried?  And  why  did  she 
wear  her  hair  like  a  married  woman?  And  who  was  the  man 
who  came  with  her  and  with  whom  she  seemed  so  intimate? 
The  last  question  was  answered  first — he  was  a  barber  and  an 
intimate  friend  of  her  father's.  That  did  not  allay  my  growing 
suspicions,  for  barbers  in  China  have  not  had  good  reputations 
since  the  early  days  of  the  Manchu  rule  when  they  served  their 
customers  either  as  barber  or  executioner,  according  to  their  readi- 
ness to  adopt  the  Manchu  style  of  shaven  head  and  cue ;  so  self- 
respecting  people  do  not  enter  that  profession.  Further  inquiry 
brought  to  light  the  information  that  all  three  girls  were  pros- 
tituted by  their  father,  the  older  two  long  since  and  the  younger 
for  two  years  or  more.  Their  gate  is  opposite  that  of  the  ricksha 
shed  or  yard  and  the  oldest  sister  may  often  be  seen  standing  in 
the  group  of  men,  stitching  at  a  shoe-sole.  The  second  sister  has 
recently  gone  to  a  public  house  of  prostitution  in  a  city  nearby. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  knowledge  brings  kindred  knowl- 
edge. I  soon  discovered  that  the  good  looking  young  woman 
with  the  wide  and  spreading  collar,  who  lived  at  the  third  gate 
on  the  east,  was  the  purchased  concubine  of  the  soldier  we  had 
often  seen  smoking  and  smiling  in  the  alley.  I  also  learned  that 
her  style  of  collar  marked  her  as  an  immoral  woman.  She  and 
her  cross-eyed  girl  of  five  have  since  moved  around  the  corner 
next  to  the  6x8  police  station,  where  lives  a  shorter,  plumper 
woman  with  the  same  style  of  collar. 

At  the  opposite  gate,  the  third  on  the  west,  one  may  some- 
times see  a  "daughter-in-law"  of  about  18  combing  her  hair. 
This  is  an  even  plainer  sign  than  a  flaring  collar;  ricksha  men 
come  and  go  freely  through  this  gate  and  I  suppose  her  husband's 
family  shares  the  profits. 

There  are  apparently  several  families  living  in  this  yard,  to 
judge  from  the  number  of  dirty,  impudent  youngsters  that  boil 
over  into  the  alley.  In  one  of  the  families  there  is  a  man  who  is 
a  Christian,  and  a  Christian  family  lives  across  the  street;  from 
here  three  attractive  children  go  to  mission  schools. 


334.  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

Frequently,  one  sees  a  woman  sitting  on  the  ground  near  here 
or  wandering  about.  She  is  dirty  and  disheveled  and,  though  she 
comments  to  the  neighbors  on  what  attracts  her  interest,  her  dull 
eyes  and  stolid  look  mark  her  as  of  rather  low  grade  intelligence. 
She  has  an  ill-cared-for  child  of  two  and  is  soon  to  have  another. 
They  tell  me  she  is  the  wife  of  a  soldier  who  has  found  some  one 
he  likes  better  to  live  with,  so  he  has  moved  her  over  here.  He 
pays  her  15  coppers  a  day  and  20  when  he  comes  to  visit  her. 
Not  being  a  "good  manager,"  she  spends  this  in  buying  from  the 
street  venders  their  most  attractive  but  less  economical  foods,  and 
so  has  nothing  left  to  pay  for  washing  water. 

As  I  see  these  people  I  long  for  the  facilities  that  America 
has  built  up  for  helping  such.  Here  in  this  less  than  50  yards  is 
work  for  every  agency  for  social  betterment  in  the  catalogue  of  an 
up-to-date  American  city.  When  will  China  begin  to  take  up 
these  problems  in  a  systematic  way  ?  When  her  people  have  been 
educated  up  to  a  sense  of  social  responsibility  and  have  a  founda- 
tion of  morality — Christian  morality — to  build  upon.  Some  of 
her  younger  generation  have  reached  that  place  already,  but  as 
yet  they  are  but  a  small  minority,  though  every  year  increasing. 


CHAPTER  XV 
CHURCH  SURVEY1 

Two  questions  are  often  asked  in  connection  with  the  work 
of  the  Foreign  Missionary  Societies,  first,  Who  are  the  people 
that  the  church  is  reaching?  and  second,  What  can  be  expected 
of  these  people  in  service  and  financial  support?  It  was  these 
two  questions  that  we  attempted  to  answer  when,  in  response 
to  the  invitation  of  the  Board  of  Deacons  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou 
Church  of  the  American  Board  Mission  (Congregational),  we 
undertook  a  survey  of  the  families  of  the  members  of  that 
church,  and  then  later  made  a  study  of  the  families  touched  by 
the  Pei  T'ang  and  Ch'i  Hua  Men  Chapels  of  the  same  mission. 
It  seemed  best  to  study  the  families  that  were  related  to  the 
church  rather  than  the  individual  members,  probationers  or  in- 
quirers :  it  would  be  almost  as  easy  to  get  the  desired  information 
for  a  number  of  families  as  for  a  number  of  individuals,  the 
families  would  include  the  church  members,  and  such  a  study 
would  show  how  well  the  church  was  covering  its  most  imme- 
diate field,  the  families  of  its  members,  and  would  in  all  prob- 
ability give  information  that  would  make  it  easier  to  approach 
those  who  had  not  yet  been  reached  by  the  church. 

As  this  was  the  first  study  of  its  kind  to  be  made  in  Peking 
there  was  no  way  of  knowing  what  information  might  be  se- 
cured by  the  survey,  and  consequently  the  questionnaire  blanks 
were  made  very  inclusive.  Some  questions  were  even  put  on 
with  the  hope  that  the  answers  might  give  some  unexpected  in- 
formation. The  card  was  so  arranged  that  a  report  was  secured 
concerning  the  name,  age,  sex,  marital  condition,  education,  oc- 
cupation and  church  relationship  of  every  member  of  the  family, 
and  then,  for  the  family  as  a  whole,  information  concerning  race, 
native  province,  time  in  Peking,  the  number  of  births  and  deaths 
during  the  last  five  years,  the  number  of  servants  employed, 
whether  the  home  was  owned  or  rented,  and  if  rented  the  amount 
of  rent  paid,  the  size  of  the  house,  and  finally  the  amount  of  the 
family  income. 

Several  of  the  older  missionaries  were  quite  skeptical  as  to 
the  possibility  of  securing  information  from  the  Chinese  with 

1  Appendix  XI  gives  the  figures,  in  tabular  form,  for  the  various  phases  of 
the  Church  Surrey,  as  described  in  this  chapter, 

335 


336  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

such  a  questionnaire,  as,  in  the  olden  days,  they  had  seen  schools 
closed  when  a  teacher  had  endeavored  to  write  in  a  book  the 
name  of  one  of  the  pupils.  There  was  a  popular  superstition  that 
a  person  would  have  bad  luck  if  anything  pressed  on  his  name, 
and  the  students  left  school  rather  than  allow  their  names  to  be 
put  in  a  book  which,  when  closed,  would  press  on  them.  Fortu- 
nately these  doubts  were  not  expressed  to  us  until  after  a  pre- 
liminary report  had  shown  that  the  church  members  were  now 
willing  to  answer  the  many  questions  concerning  their  family 
life  when  they  knew  that  the  information  was  to  be  used  for  the 
benefit  of  the  church. 

In  order  that  the  study  might  be  made  entirely  by  church 
members,  it  seemed  best  to  have  the  information  gathered  by  the 
missionaries,  the  Chinese  workers  and  a  group  of  volunteer 
helpers,  even  though  the  returns  might  be  somewhat  incomplete 
or  inaccurate,  because  most  of  the  investigators  had  never  had 
any  experience  in  collecting  such  data.  It  meant  a  good  deal  that 
no  outsider  was  connected  with  the  work  except  in  making  the 
statistics,  and  we  wanted  the  church  members  to  have  the  benefit 
of  the  experience  of  helping  in  the  study  and  giving  some  service 
to  the  church. 

The  workers  were  given  demonstrations  and  written  instruc- 
tions concerning  the  gathering  of  the  information  and  the  writing 
of  the  card.  When  the  cards  were  turned  in,  they  were  care- 
fully checked  over  for  any  apparent  discrepancies  and  an  effort 
was  made  to  fill  in  any  omissions,  but  even  so,  there  were  quite  a 
number  of  questions  on  some  cards,  particularly  those  concerning 
education,  size  of  the  house  and  number  of  beds  belonging  to  the 
family,  where  the  report  had  to  be  "No  Data."  While  this  was 
true  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  and  Pei  T'ang  studies,  the  cards  of 
the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  survey  had  practically  no  omissions.  The 
Chinese  pastor  of  that  church  gathered  all  the  information  and 
he  saw  to  it  that  the  questions  were  all  answered.  Even  when 
some  of  his  answers  appeared  to  be  inaccurate,  as  when  he  re- 
ported one  family  to  be  spending  91  percent  of  its  money  income 
on  rent,  further  investigation  showed  that  the  information  was 
correct. 

The  Teng  Shih  K'ou  members  were  interested  in  the  study  by 
means  of  a  sermon  telling  of  the  results  of  a  survey  of  one  of 
the  churches  of  New  York,  the  sermon  being  given  by  one  of  the 
missionaries  who  had  assisted  in  making  the  study,  while  the 
interest  of  the  Pei  T'ang  and  Ch'i  Hua  Men  members  was  aroused 
by  the  results  secured  by  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  survey.  As  a 
result,  in  only  one  instance  were  the  investigators  met  with  a  flat 
refusal  to  answer  any  of  the  questions,  though  in  some  cases  it 
was  impossible  to  secure  satisfactory  answers  to  all  of  them. 


g  (Section)     £  &  (District)        ««  (Street)         ®  H(Hut'ung)      H»(No.) 


&  &  (Name)        31  H  ^  (Post  Office  Address) 


J3  p  (No.in  family)      £  fig  (File  No.) 


WS 


tal  Condition  or 
rade  in  School) 


(Ba 


Contributi 
to  Ch 


i(No.Children  Born)  31  # 


/h  &  fi  S  (No.now  Living) 


±(Mark  Females  with  X) 


it 

(£)  (Province) 
(*tt)(Higher Degree)  (^^^(MiddleScnool) 
( 06^)  (Can  read)         (79$ )  (Cannot  read) 
(SftftM*£f£)  (Amusements) 


(Returned 
Student) 


(S#c )  (Physical  Defectives) 
(E¥ft»t«  B)(Deaths  in  5  years) 

S  JH 

($n)  (Profession)  (^S®  %)  (Business) 

C^^)  (Mechanic)     (^MSt)  (Laborer)      (£&)  (Apprentice) 

(MX)  (Regular)  (®X)  (Irregular)  («X)  (Night)  (^  B  ftlSXSunday) 

( ^  0  f^I^Syi)  (Hours  per  Day)       (£  ^  H H)TCause  of  Unemployment) 

C^fiR^S:)  (Servants) 


H(Date)  ^ 


B 


Figure  24:     Church  Survey  Card. 

Under  the  headings  Education,  Association  Member,  Sick,  Defective,  Pro- 
fession, Business,  Unemployment,  etc.,  individuals  are  referred  to  by 
the  numbers  opposite  their  names  on  the  face  of  the  card. 


337 


838  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

The  membership  roll  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  Church  included 
some  three  hundred  families.  Satisfactory  cards  were  secured 
from  147  of  these,  while  some  50  others  could  not  be  located. 
They  had  moved  or  left  the  city,  and  were  not  actively  in  touch 
with  the  church.  Consequently,  the  survey  covered  approximately 
two-thirds  of  the  families  that  really  belonged  to  the  church. 
No  great  effort  was  made  to  make  the  study  more  complete,  be- 
cause the  Pei  T'ang  and  Ch'i  Hua  Men  Chapels  were  asking  that 
their  membership  be  surveyed,  and  also  because  a  complete  pre- 
liminary report  had  been  made  on  no  families  of  the  Teng  Shih 
K'ou  Church,  and  there  had  been  practically  no  change  in  the 
various  percentages  when  37  more  were  added.  As  the  time 
available  for  the  church  study  was  limited,  it  seemed  best  to  secure 
studies  of  three  churches  even  though  they  had  to  be  somewhat 
incomplete,  rather  than  spend  time  on  securing  a  complete  report 
from  any  one  church,  particularly  as  the  three  churches  studied 
represented  very  different  groups. 

The  Teng  Shih  K'ou,  the  oldest  of  the  American  Board 
churches  in  Peking,  is  located  in  the  main  Mission  Compound 
and  is  housed  in  a  modern,  foreign  style,  brick  and  stone  build- 
ing. Its  pastor  has  had  a  fine  educational  training  and  its  mem- 
bership includes  a  large  proportion  of  people  that  are  well-to-do, 
who  have  had  a  good  education  and  who  are  leaders  in  their 
community  and  in  the  city.  The  Pei  T'ang  Chapel  whose  field 
adjoins  that  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  Church  on  the  north,  is 
smaller,  is  located  in  a  district  where  there  is  a  large  proportion 
of  merchants  doing  a  small  business  and  that  is  noticeably  poorer 
than  that  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  Church.  The  Ch'i  Hua  Men 
Chapel,  located  about  one-half  mile  outside  of  the  east  wall  of 
Peking,  on  the  main  road  from  Peking  to  T'ung  Hsien,  reaches 
those  who  are  living  in  the  suburbs.  The  district  around  it  is  a 
poor  one  and  includes  a  very  large  proportion  of  Manchus.  On 
the  whole,  the  conditions  in  this  church  seem  to  be  fairly  repre- 
sentative of  those  that  would  be  found  by  a  study  of  the  member- 
ship of  churches  in  various  small  cities  or  towns  in  China.  One 
hundred  and  ten  Pei  T'ang  families  were  studied,  or  about  two- 
thirds  of  the  active  membership  of  that  church,  while  the  68 
Ch'i  Hua  Men  families  were  all  that  could  be  found  and  so  repre- 
sented the  entire  church  membership. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  how  representative  the  church  member- 
ship is  of  the  population  of  the  district  around  the  church  build- 
ing, as  figures  could  not  be  secured  for  the  general  population 
that  would  correspond  with  those  obtained  for  the  church  mem- 
bership. The  study  of  the  population  of  the  district  around  the 
Teng  Shih  K'ou  Church  (Chapter  XIII)  gave  only  a  general  idea 
of  the  people  of  the  district,  and  told  little,  if  anything,  of  the 


CHURCH  SURVEY 


339 


LEGEND 

IH    JCOU    -  Average   family   4.1 


irsons 


T'ANG 


-Average  Familu    2. 7  Persons 


CH'I    HUA    MEN    -  Average  Tarn  I  lu   4.5  Persons 
CGM6INEP -  Average  family    3.  7  Persons 


Figure  25:     Number  of  Families  and  Individuals 

financial,  educational  or  other  abilities  of  the  families.  However, 
the  general  impression  secured  from  these  studies,  and  from  per- 
sonal acquaintance  with  the  church  members  and  others  who  are 
living  in  the  districts  around  the  churches,  is  that,  on  the  whole, 
the  church  is  able  to  reach  those  who  are  representative  of  the 
community  and  by  its  influence  is  able  to  raise  them  above  the 
general  average. 

Three  hundred  and  twenty-five  families  filled  out  cards  with 
sufficient  detail  to  be  included  in  the  statistics  for  the  different 
churches.  One  hundred  and  forty-seven  belonged  to  the  Teng 
Shih  K'ou  Church,  no  to  the  Pei  T'ang  Chapel  and  68  to  the 
Ch'i  Hua  Men  Chapel.  The  families  included  a  total  of  1,217 
persons,  or  an  average  of  3.7  persons  per  family.  The  Ch'i  Hua 
Men  had  the  largest  average,  4.5,  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  families 
averaged  4.1,  while  those  belonging  to  the  Pei  T'ang  averaged 
but  2.7.  The  poorest  group  had  the  largest  average  family,  prin- 
cipally because  it  included  only  one  student,  while  the  Pei  T'ang 
study  included  18  and  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  14.  As  the  students 
were  almost  always  living  away  from  home,  they  were  counted  as 
families  with  but  one  member,  and  so  reduced  the  size  of  the 
average  family.  The  average  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  Church 
was  further  reduced  by  the  fact  that  it  also  included  in  its  mem- 
bership 17  inmates  of  the  Old  Ladies'  Home  who  were  listed  as 
families  with  one  member.  These  Peking  families  are  considerably 
smaller  on  the  average  than  the  families  living  in  American  cities 
that  are  about  the  size  of  Peking.  In  those  cities  the  average 
number  of  persons  per  family  varies  from  4.4  in  St.  Louis  to  4.8 
in  Pittsburg  and  Boston.1 

*U.  S.  Census,  1910. 


340 


PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


-LIVING    ALONC 

-SMALL  /AMILICS 

Figure  26: 


Size  of  Families 


M^  FAMILIES 

ROC     fAMlLICS 
(10  €r  Over) 


SIZE  OF  FAMILIES 

While  the  average  size  of  all  the  families  is  3.7,  the  individual 
families  have  anywhere  from  one  to  twenty  members,  though 
there  is  only  one  with  20  and  the  next  largest  has  12  members. 
One-third  (33  percent)  of  the  families  have  only  one  member, 
are  people  living  alone  or  else  they  are  in  schools  or  other  institu- 
tions and  are  consequently  classed  as  families  with  but  one  mem- 
ber. Forty-two  percent  of  all  the  families  have  from  two  to  five 
members  and  are  classed  as  small  families,  21  percent  are  medium- 
sized  families  with  from  six  to  nine  members,  while  4  percent  are 
"large"  families  with  ten  or  more  members.  Considering  the  great 
care  with  which  the  Chinese  look  after  their  women,  it  is  rather 
striking  to  find  that  almost  half  (46  percent)  of  the  single  member 
families  are  women.  However,  almost  two-thirds  (61  percent) 
are  over  fifty  years  of  age,  while  of  the  entire  group  of  49,  18 
are  in  the  Old  Ladies'  Home,  ten  are  students  in  school,  two  are 
mission  workers,  two  are  servants,  one  is  a  teacher  and  one  is  in 
the  Women's  Poorhpuse.  The  Ch'i  Hua  Men  has  a  particularly 
large  proportion,  nine  out  of  13,  of  single  member  families 
that  are  women.  In  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou,  a  little  over  one-half 
of  the  single  member  families  are  women,  while  in  the  Pei  T'ang 
the  proportion  is  only  one-third.  It  is  rather  striking  that  the 
families  with  two,  three,  four,  five  and  six  members  should  each 
represent  10  or  n  percent  of  the  entire  number  of  families. 
That  is,  10  percent  of  all  the  families  have  two  members,  n 
percent  have  three,  and  so  on.  As  would  be  expected  from  the 
average  size  of  the  families  in  the  different  churches,  the  Ch'i 
Hua  Men  has  the  highest  proportion  of  large  families.  Nine 
percent  of  its  families  have  ten  or  more  members,  while  only  five 
percent  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  families  have  more  than  nine 


CHURCH  SURVEY 


Bj-MANCHUS  II  [J-MONGOIS 

Figure  27:     Distribution  by  Race 


members.  None  of  the  Pel  T'ang  families  have  over  eight  mem- 
bers. Even  in  the  medium-sized  families,  those  with  from  six  to 
nine  members,  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  has  almost  as  many  propor- 
tionately as  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  and  more  than  twice  as  many  as 
the  Pei  T'ang.  Almost  half  (42  percent)  of  the  Pei  T'ang  fam- 
ilies are  single  member  families,  while  only  19  percent  of  the 
Ch'i  Hua  Men  families  have  only  one  member. 

DISTRIBUTION  BY  RACE 

Of  the  families  studied,  62  percent  were  Chinese,  35  percent 
Manchus,  and  3  percent  Mongols.  The  average  size  of  the 
Chinese  and  Manchu  families  was  the  same,  3.7,  but  the  Mongol 
families  had  on  the  average  6  members.  This  last,  however,  can 
hardly  be  called  a  true  average,  as  there  were  but  ten  Mongol 
families  included  in  the  study.  The  race  division  by  persons  is 
practically  the  same  as  that  by  families,  61  percent  Chinese,  34 
percent  Manchus  and  5  percent  Mongol.  This  race  division  can- 
not be  said  to  be  typical  of  Peking  as  a  whole.  Both  the  Pei 
T'ang  and  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  districts  have  a  relatively  high  pro- 
portion of  Manchus,  compared  with  the  city  as  a  whole,  for  there 
are  many  districts  in  the  South  City,  particularly  those  in  which 
business  predominates,  in  which  only  a  very  small  proportion  of 
the  population  are  Manchus. 

DISTRIBUTION  BY  PROVINCES 

Of  all  the  families,  83  percent  come  from  Chihli  Province, 
while  94  percent  come  from  Chihli,  Manchuria  and  Shantung. 
All  of  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  families  claim  Chihli  as  their  native 
province,  and  93  percent  of  them  say  they  are  natives  of  Ta 


PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


1OO 


-MALE  t==g~fCMALC 

t      I 

Figure  28:     Distribution  by  Sex 

Hsing  Hsien,  the  county  in  which  the  Chapel  is  located.  Ninety- 
four  percent  of  the  Pei  T'ang  families  and  65  percent  of  the 
Teng  Shih  K'ou  families  are  natives  of  Chihli,  so  all  but  six  of 
the  families  coming  from  the  more  distant  provinces  belong  to 
the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  Church.  Besides  Chihli,  nine  of  the  21 
provinces  of  China  and  Mongolia  are  represented  by  one  or  more 
families,  five  families  even  coming  from  provinces  as  distant  as 
Kwangtung  and  Szechuan. 

LENGTH    OF   RESIDENCE 

From  the  figures  showing  the  time  that  the  families  have 
been  in  Peking,  it  is  apparent  that  the  churches  are  dealing  with 
a  group  that,  for  the  most  part,  is  made  up  of  permanent  resi- 
dents. Only  14  percent  of  the  families  have  been  in  Peking  less 
than  five  years,  while  78  percent  have  been  in  the  city  over  fifteen 
years.  The  Teng  Shih  K'ou  is  the  only  one  of  the  churches  that 
is  facing  to  any  extent  the  problems  presented  by  families  who 
have  been  in  Peking  but  a  short  time.  Ninety-seven  percent  of 
the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  families  and  86  percent  of  the  Pei  T'ang 
families  have  been  in  Peking  over  fifteen  years,  while  25  percent 
of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  families  have  been  in  the  city  less  than 
six  years. 

DISTRIBUTION   BY  SEX 

When  it  is  remembered  that  Peking  as  a  whole  has  a  popula- 
tion that  is  63.5  percent  male  and  that  the  population  of  the 
police  districts  around  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  and  Pei  T'ang 
churches  are  64.6  percent  and  58.2  percent  male,  respectively,  it 
is  significant  to  note  that  in  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  families  the 
number  of  males  and  females  is  almost  equal,  309  males  and  299 
females,  and  that  the  Pei  T'ang  families  are  divided,  55.5  percent 


CHURCH  SURVEY 


343 


J L 


J L 


J L 


J L 


\ 


1    1  111621   26313641_46_515661667i7681+ 
5    10   15  20  25   30  35  40  45  50  55    60  65  70   75  80 
AGES 

Figure  29:     Peking  Church  Families:  Percent  in  Five- Year  Age  Groups 

male  and  44.5  percent  female.  Of  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  families 
51.5  percent  are  males  and  48.5  percent  females.  For  all  of  the 
325  families,  the  percentages  are  52  percent  male  and  48  percent 
female.  These  figures  simply  prove  that  Chinese  families  like 
those  of  other  countries  are  divided  almost  evenly  between  the 
sexes  with  a  slight  preponderance  of  males,  and  that  the  excess 
number  of  males  found  in  Peking  are  men  away  from  home. 
Some  are  there  for  education,  some  for  business,  some  are  seek- 
ing political  preferment,  but  the  problem  they  present  is  that  of  a 
group  of  men  away  from  home  and  the  large  number  only  makes 
the  problem  all  the  more  serious. 


AGE  GROUPS  1 

The  chart  showing  the  percentages  of  the  members  of  the 
church  families  in  the  different  five  year  age  groups  has  the  same 

1  All  ages   are   given   according  to   the    Chinese   method    of   reckoning   so    are,    on 
the    average,    one    year   greater    than    if    figured   according   to    the    American    method. 


According  to  the  Chinese,  a  baby  is  one  year  old  when  born  and  two  years  old  on. 
act  New  Year's  Day. 


the  next 


344  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

general  shape  as  those  that  show  the  ages  of  the  population  of 
different  American  cities,  but  is  very  different  from  that  for  the 
total  population  of  Peking.  In  the  first  place,  in  the  church  fam- 
ilies the  number  of  males  and  females  are  nearly  equal,  and  then, 
too,  there  is  a  much  larger  proportion  of  children  than  there  is  in 
the  city  population.  Instead  of  starting  low,  increasing  rapidly 
to  a  peak  in  the  26-30  year  age  group  and  then  decreasing  almost 
as  rapidly,  the  graph  for  the  church  families  starts  even  higher 
than  those  for  the  American  cities,  with  10.6  percent  in  the  1-5 
year  age  group,  decreases  through  the  11-15  year  age  group,  then 
increases  rapidly  and  reaches  its  maximum  in  the  16-20  year  age 
group,  five  years  earlier  than  is  true  for  the  American  cities. 
As  the  higher  age  groups  are  reached,  the  graph  descends  with 
some  irregularities  but  with  much  the  same  slope  as  those  of  the 
American  cities,  except  that  there  is  a  slightly  smaller  proportion 
in  the  groups  from  30  to  50  years  of  age,  and  a  slightly  larger 
proportion  in  the  groups  over  50,  due  largely  to  the  number  of 
members  who  are  inmates  of  the  Old  Ladies'  Home.  If  a  larger 
number  of  families  were  studied,  the  graph  would  undoubtedly 
have  practically  the  same  shape  as  those  for  the  entire  population 
of  the  American  cities,  Cleveland,  Pittsburg,  Boston,  etc.,  the 
immigration  of  the  young  people  into  the  cities  being  equaled  by 
the  number  of  young  people  away  from  home  who  are  reached 
by  the  church, 

AGE  DISTRIBUTION   BY   SEX 

The  graphs  showing  the  ages  of  the  males  and  females  have 
much  the  same  shape  except  that  there  is  a  larger  proportion  of 
males  in  the  younger  age  groups.  Sixty  percent  of  the  males  are 
under  31  years  of  age  and  55  percent  of  the  females.  The 
graph  for  the  females  shows  three  distinct  peaks,  one  the  maxi- 
mum (10.7  percent)  in  the  16-20  year  age  group,  another 
almost  as  high  (10  percent)  in  the  26-30  year  age  group  and 
one  in  the  46-50  year  age  group.  There  is  also  a  much  larger 
proportion  of  females  in  the  higher  age  groups  than  is  true  for 
the  males.  Eight  percent  of  the  females  are  over  60  years  of  age, 
but  only  5.7  percent  of  the  males. 


AGE  DISTRIBUTION  BY  CHURCHES 

It  is  difficult  to  make  any  comparison  between  the  different 
churches  as  far  as  ages  are  concerned,  particularly  the  percent- 
ages found  in  the  different  age  groups,  as  the  numbers  in  the 
different  groups  are  small  and  apt  to  vary.  The  most  that  can  be 
said  is  that,  on  the  whole,  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  families  are 


CHURCH  SURVEY 


845 


1    JL11162126313641__46515661667I7681+ 
"6    10    15    20   25    30    35    40    45    50    55    60  65    70    75    15 

AGES 
Figure  30:    Age  and  Sex 

younger  than  those  of  the  other  churches,  64  percent  being  under 
30  years  of  age,  while  those  of  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  are  the  oldest. 


MARITAL  CONDITION 

Of  the  entire  group  studied,  47  percent  are  single,  45  percent 
married  and  8  percent  are  definitely  reported  as  widowed.  The 
latter  figure  should  in  all  probability  be  somewhat  higher,  as 
after  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  and  Pei  T'ang  surveys  were  made  it 
was  found  that  the  Chinese  characters  on  the  questionnaire  were 
such  that  only  widowed  females  would  be  reported.  The 
widowed  males  were  found  only  by  inspection  when  the  statistics 
were  being  made.  This  proportion  of  single  persons  is  much 


346 


PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


^  5  INGLt-46%1!  WIDOWCD-7% 
I|MABRieD-44%BNO  DA7A-3% 
M.  MALtS  P*.  FEMALES 

Figure  31 :    Marital  Condition 

smaller  than  is  found  in  the  United  States  where  55  percent *  of 
the  entire  population  is  single.  The  difference  is  even  greater 
when  a  comparison  is  made  between  those  who  are  15  years  of 
age  or  over,  American  count,  and  16  years  of  age  or  over,  Chinese 
count.  In  those  groups  only  26  percent  of  the  Chinese  are  still 
single,  wl}ile  in  America  34  percent  x  have  never  been  married. 
In  the  American  cities  about  the  same  size  as  Peking,2  from  35 
to  42  percent  *  of  the  population  are  single.  It  is  a  well-known 
fact  that  the  Chinese  marry  earlier  than  do  the  Americans,  but 
even  so  the  figures  are  significant  in  that  they  show  the  amount 
of  the  difference  between  the  two  countries. 

As  would  be  expected,  the  difference  between  the  figures  for 
Peking  and  for  the  American  cities  is  much  greater  for  the 
females  than  for  the  males.  In  Peking  33  percent  of  the  men 
over  15  are  unmarried,  while  in  the  American  cities  the  propor- 
tion varies  from  39.3  percent  in  Philadelphia,  to  44  percent  in 
Boston.1  Only  18  percent  of  the  Peking  females  over  15  years 
of  age  are  unmarried,  while  from  30  to  40  percent *  of  those  living1 
in  American  cities  are  still  single. 

The  ages  of  those  over  16  years  of  age  who  are  still  unmarried 
show  very  strikingly  that  almost  all  of  the  Chinese  marry  at  some 
time.  Of  those  who  are  unmarried,  83  percent  are  still  under 

1U.  S.  Census,  1910. 

'The  American  cities  with  which  Peking  is  compared  are  Boston,  Philadelphia, 

Pittsburg  and  St.  Louis. 


CHURCH  SURVEY  34? 

26  years  of  age,  while  92  percent  are  still  under  31  years  of  age. 
As  would  be  expected,  the  unmarried  females  are  younger  than 
are  the  single  males;  95  percent  of  the  single  women  are  less 
than  25  years  of  age,  while  all  but  one  are  under  31.  That  one  is 
a  Manchu  old  maid,  who  by  law  is  not  allowed  to  own  property 
and  so  must  depend  upon  her  relatives  for  support.  She  lives 
with  one  family  for  a  while  and  then  when  they  tell  her  that  it  is 
time  to  move  on,  she  goes  to  another  family  and  lives  with  them 
for  a  time.  Of  the  unmarried  men,  78  percent  are  less  than  26 
years  old,  while  88  percent  are  under  31.  There  are  only  17 
single  men  who  are  over  30,  but  their  ages  range  all  the  way 
from  31  to  80. 

AGE   AT    MARRIAGE 

No  attempt  was  made  to  find  out  how  old  the  people  included 
in  this  study  were  when  they  were  married.  The  only  definite 
information  that  the  figures  give  on  this  point  is  that  none  of 
those  who  are  under  17  years  of  age  are  married.  Of  course  it 
is  perfectly  possible  that  those  who  are  now  older  may  have  been 
married  at  that  age  or  even  younger.  Dr.  Lennox1  in  his  study 
of  4,000  married  men  found  that,  although  the  average  age  at 
marriage  was  20,  the  largest  number  were  married  when  they 
were  19  years  of  age.  Almost  10  percent  were  less  than  16  years 
of  age  (Chinese  count)  when  they  were  married  and  a  few  had 
even  been  married  when  they  were  10  years  of  age. 

BIRTH   RATE 

As  vital  statistics  are  so  scarce  in  China  and  one  hears  all 
sorts  of  estimates  as  to  birth  rates  and  infant  mortality,  a  very 
definite  effort  was  made  in  this  study  to  secure  statistics  concern- 
ing the  births  and  deaths  in  the  families  belonging  to  the  churches. 
Realizing  that  the  study  would  include  a  relatively  small  number 
of  persons  and  that  therefore  it  would  be  impossible  to  get  a 
true  average  from  the  figures  for  any  one  year,  the  families 
were  asked  to  report  the  number  of  births  and  deaths  during  the 
last  five  years.  The  study  of  the  cards  showed  that  some  of  the 
investigators  had  failed  to  answer  the  questions  concerning  births 
and  deaths,  so  that  there  were  undoubtedly  omissions,  and  the 
figures,  particularly  those  for  the  death  rate,  are  too  low.  It  was 
possible  to  check  very  closely  the  number  of  births  in  the  last  five 
years  by  the  number  of  children  who  were  under  six  years  of 
age,  but  no  check  was  possible  for  the  number  of  deaths  and  they 
have  to  be  given  as  reported.  There  were  161  births  reported,  an 
average  of  32.2  a  year,  or  a  birth  rate  of  26.5  per  1,000  persons. 

1  Some  Vital   Statistics,   China  Medical  Journal,  July,    1919. 


348  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

The  Teng  Shih  K'ou  Church  had  the  largest  birth  rate,  28.4, 
and  the  Pel  T'ang  the  smallest,  22.8 ;  for  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  fami- 
lies the  birth  rate  was  24.6.  In  all  probability,  the  birth  rate 
would  not  be  over  28  per  1,000  even  if  all  the  births  had  been 
reported.  The  police  statistics  for  the  city  as  a  whole  give  the 
birth  rate  as  only  n.8  per  1,000,  but  they  admit  that  this  is  far 
too  low  as  they  find  it  impossible  to  get  an  accurate  report  of 
births. 

According  to  the  figures  for  the  church  families,  the  birth 
rate  per  1,000  women  of  child-bearing  age  (15-50)  averages  94. 
while  the  birth  rate  per  1,000  married  women  of  child-bearing  age 
averages  128. 

The  results  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  and  Pel  T'ang  surveys 
showed  that  the  question  concerning  the  number  of  children  born 
but  not  living  at  the  time  of  the  survey  needed  revision.  For  the 
Ch'i  Hua  Men  survey  the  form  of  the  question  was  changed  and 
the  results  secured  were  much  more  complete.  The  reports 
showed  that  305  children  had  been  born  to  the  87  married 
women  included  in  the  study  and  that  107  (35  percent)  of 
these  had  died.  The  average  number  of  births  per  "family"  is 
4.5,  but  omitting  the  four  single  men  living  alone  and  those 
families  that  had  had  no  children  the  average  is  5.3  births  per 
"family."  The  average  per  married  woman  is  3.5,  which  is 
somewhat  lower  than  the  average  number  of  children  born  to  a 
Chinese  woman  during  her  lifetime,  as  the  study  includes  women 
who  are  17  and  70  years  of  age. 

While  the  average  number  of  births  per  married  woman  is 
3.5,  the  average  number  of  living  children  is  2.3.  An  average  of 
1.2  children  per  married  woman  have  died.  Dr.  Lennox  in  his 
study  of  4,000  married  men  found  that  an  average  of  2.7  children 
had  been  born  to  the  men  who  had  had  any  children.  Of  these, 
an  average  of  0.9  had  died,  leaving  an  average  of  1.8  living  children 
per  family.1 

Prof.  Dittmer  in  his  study  found  the  average  number  of  chil- 
dren per  family  to  be  1.8.  The  figures  for  the  church  study  are 
therefore  much  higher  than  those  of  either  of  the  other  two 
studies.  Dr.  Wu  Lien  Teh,  of  the  Government  Medical  Service, 
said  he  felt  that  the  proportion  of  those  who  had  died  (35 
percent)  was  about  right,  as  he  estimated  that  about  half  of  the 
children  born  in  North  China  died  before  reaching  maturity. 

Eight  of  the  families  report  10  or  more  births,  one  reporting 
as  high  as  18.  This  of  course  includes  all  of  the  children 
born  to  all  the  married  women  included  by  the  family.  The  high- 
est number  of  deaths  reported  by  one  family  was  nine.  Twenty- 
five  families  reported  that  they  had  lost  no  children,  even  though 

1  Dr.  W.  G.  Lennox,  Some  Vital  Statistics,  China  Medical  Journal,  July,  1919. 


CHURCH  SURVEY  349 

some  reported  six,  seven  and  eight  births.  The  largest  number 
of  deaths  (9)  occurred  in  the  family  with  the  largest  number  of 
births  (18).  The  families  reporting  12,  13  and  15  children  had 
lost  five,  eight  and  seven  children,  respectively.  None  of  the 
families  had  lost  all  of  their  children. 

DEATH  RATE 

Based  on  the  number  of  deaths  (79)  reported  as  having  oc- 
curred during  the  last  five  years,  the  death  rate  for  the  church 
families  is  13  per  1,000.  Unfortunately  this  figure  cannot  be 
taken  as  a  correct  average.  There  are  very  apparent  omissions 
in  the  report,  and  the  death  rate  is  further  reduced  by  our 
definition  of  "a  family."  In  all  probability  the  death  rate  for 
these  church  families  should  be  about.  20.  According  to  the  police, 
the  death  rate  for  the  entire  city  is  25.8. 

INCOMES 

Next  to  the  figures  showing  "church  relationship"  those  con- 
cerning income  are  the  most  vital  of  all  those  found  by  the  sur- 
vey. If  the  size  of  the  family  income  is  known  it  is  possible  to 
determine  with  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy  the  family  status  as 
regards  education,  possibilities  for  leadership  and,  particularly, 
ability  to  support  the  work  of  the  church.  Twenty-two  (6.8  per- 
cent) of  the  325  families  reported  that  their  income  was  more 
than  $1,000  a  year.  Eighteen  of  these  were  Teng  Shih  K'ou 
families  and  four  belonged  to  the  Pei  T'ang.  None  of  the  Ch'i 
Hua  Men  families  were  in  the  $1,000  group  and  only  one  was 
receiving  between  $500  and  $999  a  year.  One  out  of  eight  of  the 
Teng  Shih  K'ou  families  had  an  annual  income  of  over  $1,000. 
The  group  receiving  $500  to  $999  a  year  included  27  (8.3  percent) 
families.  One  family  out  of  every  six  had  an  income  of  any- 
where from  $250  to  $499  a  year,  and  a  little  more  than  one  out 
of  five  (21.8  percent)  received  between  $100  and  $249  a  year; 
28.6  percent  received  less  than  $100  a  year,  while  58  families 
(17.9  percent)  are  included  in  the  "no  income"  group.  Practi- 
cally all  of  these  "no  income"  families  are  either  students  or 
inmates  of  some  institution.  Of  the  three  belonging  to  the 
Ch'i  Hua  Men  Chapel,  one  is  a  Manchu  old  maid,  one  is  a 
sixteen-year-old  student  and  one  is  living  in  the  Women's  Poor- 
house.  The  fact  that  one  out  of  five  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou 
families  has  an  income  of  over  $500  a  year,  while  nine  out  of  ten 
of  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  families  receive  less  than  $249  a  year  and 
almost  two  out  of  three  (62  percent)  receive  less  than  $100  a 
year,  indicates  something  of  the  difference  between  the  member- 
ship of  the  two  churches.  Almost  half  (47.3  percent)  of  the  Pei 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


100% 


OVER  $1000 
$500-$  993 
$250  -$499 


f  IOO  -  $249 
LESS     THAN    $100 
NO     INCOME 


Figure  32:    Incomes 


T'ang  families  have  no  income  or  receive  less  than  $100  a  year. 
When  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  and  Pei  T'ang  studies  were  made, 
the  families  were  asked  to  tell  to  which  of  the  six  income  groups 
they  belonged,  but  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  families  were  asked  to  give 
the  exact  amount  of  their  monthly  income.  The  reports  show 
that  the  money  incomes  of  these  families  varied  from  72  cents  to 
$42  a  month,  the  average  being  $8.90  per  family  per  month,  or 
$9.30  if  the  three  families  with  no  income  are  omitted.  The 
mean  family  income  was  $7  a  month.  The  average  income  per 
person  was  $1.96  per  month. 

As  far  as  the  money  income  of  these  families  is  concerned, 
it  is  felt  that  this  is  a  very  accurate  report.  The  fact  that  several 
families  not  only  stated  the  amount  they  received  as  wages  but 
also  the  amount  of  commission  or  "squeeze"  they  received  on 
purchases  made  for  the  families  for  which  they  worked,  showed 
that  the  investigator  was  able  to  get  the  facts.  Unfortunately, 
the  report  does  not  give  the  total  income  of  the  families.  Several 


CHURCH  SURVEY  351 

of  them  receive  free  food  and  free  clothes  and  the  value  of  these 
perquisites  has  not  been  reported.  One  family  of  twelve  mem- 
bers reported  that  they  received  only  $5.50  a  month  and  that  $5  of 
this  was  spent  for  rent.  The  family  was  really  supported  by  the 
food  and  clothes  given  them.  If  the  value  of  the  perquisites  was 
included,  the  average  income  per  person  for  all  the  Ch'i  Hua 
Men  families  would  probably  be  about  $2.25  a  month,  or  an 
average  of  $140  a  year  for  a  family  of  five.  Prof.  Dittmer  found 
that  it  was  possible  for  a  family  of  five  to  be  self-supporting  on 
an  income  of  $100  a  year.1 

When  the  statistics  were  made  for  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  and 
Pei  T'ang  Churches,  the  families  were  divided  into  six  groups, 
according  to  the  size  of  their  income,  and  each  group  was  studied 
separately. 

The  annual  incomes  of  the  groups  were: 

1.  $1,000  and  over. 

2.  $500   tO   $999. 

3.  $250  to  $499. 

4.  $100  to  $249. 

5.  Less  than  $100. 

6.  No  reported  income. 

In  almost  every  case  the  study  of  the  figures  of  the  various 
income  groups  did  not  show  any  striking  differences  or  tell  a 
story  that  was  unexpected.  Of  course  the  families  with  larger 
incomes  have  larger  houses,  pay  more  rent,  have  better  educa- 
tions, and  employ  more  servants,  but  otherwise  the  groups  are 
practically  the  same.  So  little  difference  was  shown  that  no 
special  study  was  made  of  the  different  income  groups  for  the 
Ch'i  Hua  Men  families.  The  most  interesting  fact  shown  by 
the  figures  for  the  different  income  groups  was  that  in  both  the 
Teng  Shih  K'ou  and  Pei  T'ang  churches,  the  smaller  the  family 
income  the  smaller  was  the  average  size  of  the  family,  except  in 
one  group.  The  average  size  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  families 
whose  income  is  between  $250  and  $499  a  year  was  5.9,  or  larger 
than  5.2,  the  average  for  those  whose  income  is  between  $500 
and  $999  a  year.  Otherwise,  the  average  size  of  the  family 
decreases  as  the  income  decreases.  In  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou 
Church  the  families  with  an  income  of  over  $1,000  a  year  aver- 
aged 6.9  members.  The  thirty-two  families  whose  income  was 
between  $100  and  $249  a  year  averaged  4  to  a  family,  while 
those  whose  income  was  less  than  $100  a  year  had  3.5  members. 
The  families  that  report  no  income  have  on  the  average  but  1.5 
members.  The  average  for  this  group  is  small  because  so  many 

1  An  Estimate  of  the  Chinese  Standard  of  Living,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics, 
November,  1918. 


352  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

are  single  member  families,  are  students  away  from  home, 
inmates  of  the  Old  Ladies'  Home,  etc.,  and  so  are  classed  as 
families  with  but  one  member.  In  the  Pei  T'ang  Church  the 
families  with  an  income  of  $1,000  and  over  a  year  averaged  5 
members.  The  families  in  the  $5op-$999  and  the  $25o-$499 
groups  averaged  3.7  and  3.5,  respectively,  while  those  receiving 
from  $100  to  $249  a  year  had  on  the  average  3  members.  Where 
the  income  was  less  than  $100  a  year  the  families  averaged  2.3 
members,  while  those  who  report  no  income  averaged  but  I.I. 
This  same  decrease  in  the  average  size  of  the  family  as  the 
income  decreased  was  found  by  Prof.  Dittmer  in  his  study  of 
the  Chinese  and  Manchu  families  in  one  of  the  suburbs  of 
Peking,  even  though  the  maximum  income  was  only  $270  a  year 
and  the  families  were  divided  into  groups  representing  a  differ- 
ence in  income  of  only  $20  a  year  ($30-49,  $50-69,  etc.).  The 
maximum  average  was  5.0,  the  minimum  2.5.1 

Although  these  figures  show  that  in  groups  that  are  more  or 
less  homogeneous  there  is  a  tendency  for  the  average  size  of  the 
family  to  decrease  as  the  family  income  decreases,  there  does 
not  seem  to  be  any  absolute  relation  between  the  size  of  the  fam- 
ily and  the  size  of  the  income.  In  the  different  studies,  the  same 
income  groups  have  different  averages.  Apparently  it  is  the 
family  income  as  related  to  the  standard  of  living  of  the  group 
that  influences  the  size  of  the  family.  If  an  income  according  to 
the  prevailing  standard  of  living  is  more  than  sufficient  for  the 
family  needs,  there  are  always  relatives  who  will  attach  them- 
selves to  the  family,  and  absorb  the  surplus.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered, however,  that  in  these  studies  a  "family"  includes  those 
who  are  living  together,  and  that  no  attempt  is  made  to  segregate 
those  who  belong  to  the  "natural  families,"  nor  is  any  account 
taken  of  the  children  living  away  from  home  or  of  the  number  of 
children  who  may  have  died. 

For  a  time  it  was  thought  that  the  study  of  the  families  in 
the  different  income  groups  would  show  some  connection  between 
the  size  of  the  family  income  and  the  number  of  unmarried  mem- 
bers, the  thought  being  that  economic  pressure  had  something  to 
do  with  marriage  and  the  age  at  marriage.  The  figures,  however, 
did  not  show  the  expected  differences.  The  different  income 
groups  have  practically  the  same  proportion  of  unmarried  males 
over  16  years  of  age,  one-quarter  and  one-third  for  the  Teng 
Shih  K'ou  groups  and  one-quarter  and  one-sixth  for  the  Pei 
T'ang  groups.  Of  the  females  over  16  years  of  age,  one-sixth 
and  one-seventh  were  unmarried  except  in  the  Pei  T'ang  $1,000 
group,  where  one-half  were  unmarried,  and  in  the  groups  in  both 

1  An  Estimate  of  the  Chinese  Standard  of  Liviflg,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics, 
November,  1918. 


CHURCH  SURVEY  353 

churches  where  the  family  income  was  less  than  $100  a  year. 
There  were  no  unmarried  females  in  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  fam- 
ilies belonging  to  that  group,  and  although  there  were  twenty-two 
females  in  that  group  in  the  Pei  T'ang,  only  one  was  single.  The 
tables  giving  the  ages  of  those  who  were  unmarried  showed  that 
for  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  Church  five  of  the  eight  unmarried  fe- 
males over  20  years  of  age  belonged  to  families  whose  income 
was  over  $1,000  a  year,  but  in  the  Pei  T'ang  families  only  three 
of  the  eleven  unmarried  females  were  in  the  $1,000  group.  The 
size  of  the  family  income  seems  to  have  no  influence  on  the  age 
of  the  unmarried  males  except  that  all  of  those  who  were  over 
thirty  years  of  age  and  still  single  belonged  to  families  receiving 
less  than  $250  a  year. 

The  figures  for  the  different  income  groups  showed  that  a 
much  larger  proportion  of  Chinese  families  received  large  in- 
comes than  was  true  of  the  Manchus.  Ten  percent  of  the  Chinese 
families  belonging  to  the  two  churches  received  $1,000  or  more 
a  year,  while  only  four  percent  of  the  Manchu  families  received 
that  amount.  Eleven  percent  of  the  Chinese  families  received 
from  $500  to  $999  a  year,  while  but  seven  percent  of  the  Manchu 
families  received  that  amount.  This  lower  average  income  of 
the  Manchu  families  is  undoubtedly  due  in  large  part  to  the  fact 
that,  prior  to  1912,  they  were  closely  connected  with  the  Govern- 
ment, but  few  of  them  had  any  regular  business  and  they  have 
not,  as  yet,  had  time  to  adjust  themselves  to  the  new  conditions 
resulting  from  the  Revolution  of  1911. 

OCCUPATIONS 

In  the  earning  of  their  incomes  the  members  of  the  church 
families  are  engaged  in  some  sixty  different  occupations.  The 
largest  number  (35)  are  teaching,  34  Manchus  depend  upon  their 
government  pension  for  support,  33  are  students,  while  23  are 
preachers  or  mission  workers.  The  police  and  soldier  groups  are 
well  represented  with  18  policemen,  10  soldiers  and  3  army 
officers.  Besides  these,  there  are  representatives  of  trades  and 
professions  that  require  all  degrees  of  ability  and  training.  The 
church  that  appeals  to  the  family  of  the  physician,  business  man 
and  capitalist  also  reaches  the  family  of  the  peddler,  the  store- 
keeper, the  barber  and  the  coolie. 

NUMBER   OF   WAGE   EARNERS 

It  is  most  significant  that  at  most  there  are  only  57  families 
in  which  there  is  more  than  one  wage  earner,  and  that  only  five 
of  the  families  receiving  a  government  pension  report  any  mem- 


354  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

her  of  the  family  as  engaged  in  any  occupation.  That  there  are 
not  more  wage  earners  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that,  in  a 
great  many  Chinese  families,  when  the  income  is  sufficient  to 
support  the  family  according  to  the  standard  to  which  it  is 
accustomed,  there  seems  to  be  no  attempt  to  increase  the  family 
income,  even  though  the  several  members  of  the  family  may  be 
unemployed.  Those  who  are  not  working  seem  to  be  perfectly 
willing  to  let  the  one  who  is  employed  support  them,  and  public 
opinion  does  not  force  them  to  find  some  occupation.  A  man 
.  sometimes  has  to  support  not  only  his  own  family  and  his  mother 
and  father,  but  even  his  brothers  and  their  families.  One  case 
was  found  where  a  young  man  with  a  family  was  earning  $75  a 
month,  but  he  had  to  give  more  than  half  this  amount  to  his 
father  so  that  he  would  not  have  to  work  and  could  spend  his 
time  giving  parties  and  going  on  excursions,  even  though  he  was 
only  fifty  years  of  age  and  perfectly  able  to  find  employment  if 
he  were  to  make  the  effort.  Other  cases  are  known  where  older 
brothers  have  given  up  paying  positions  to  come  and  live  with  a 
younger  brother  who  was  receiving  a  good  income.  There  seems 
to  be  no  relief  for  the  man  with  an  income.  Public  opinion  de- 
mands that  he  support  his  relatives  and  he  dare  not  object  too 
strenuously  for  he  may  some  time  lose  his  position  and  then  he 
can  demand  that  the  other  members  of  his  family  support  him 
and  his  dependents.  The  Chinese  family  system  has  much  to 
recommend  it,  but  it  does  seem  to  make  it  possible  for  a 
great  many  able-bodied  men  to  live  in  idleness  and  force  the 
other  members  of  their  family  to  support  them. 

DAILY    HOURS    OF    WORK 

In  making  the  survey,  an  attempt  was  made  to  find  out  how 
many  hours  a  day  the  members  of  the  church  families  were 
working,  how  much  night  and  Sunday  work  they  had,  how  many 
of  them  were  unemployed  and  what  they  considered  to  be  the 
cause  of  their  unemployment,  but  the  question  concerning  the 
hours  of  work  was  the  only  one  that  was  answered  at  all,  and 
the  answers  to  it  were  relatively  few.  Of  the  129  men  who 
answered  the  question,  two-thirds  said  they  were  working  eight 
hours  or  less  a  day,  8  percent  were  working  ten  or  twelve  hours, 
while  20  percent  stated  that  they  were  working  "all  day."  There 
seemed  to  be  no  trace  of  the  long  hours  known  to  be  prevalent  in 
some  industries. 

HOME   OWNING 

Only  22  percent  of  the  church  families  own  their  own  homes, 
which  is  a  somewhat  smaller  proportion  than  is  found  in  the 


CHURCH  SURVEY 


355 


TENG   SH1H    iC'OU 

—  PE!     T'ANG 

Figure  33 :     Rent  Per  Room  Per  Month 


CH'1     HUA  MEN 
TOTAL 


American  cities.  There,  from  26  to  31  percent  of  the  families  own 
their  homes.1  In  the  three  churches  the  proportion  of  families 
owning  their  homes  varies  from  17  percent  in  the  Teng  Shih 
K'ou  to  27  percent  in  the  Pei  T'ang. 


NO   RENT 

Twenty-six  percent  of  the  families  that  do  not  own  their  own 
homes  pay  no  rent.  They  are  given  their  room  by  their  em- 
ployer, an  institution  or  a  friend.  Of  the  89  in  this  group,  20 
are  living  in  the  Old  Ladies'  Home  or  the  Poorhouse,  21  are 
in  school,  15  are  living  in  rooms  that  belong  to  the  church  or 
mission,  and  10  are  given  their  room  by  a  friend  or  relative. 


RENTS   PAID 

The  families  that  rent  their  homes  pay  anywhere  from  30  cents 
to  $40  a  month;  20  percent  pay  less  than  $1.00  a  month,  54 
percent  pay  less  than  $2.00  a  month,  and  only  10  percent  pay 
more  than  $10  a  month.  The  rents  paid  by  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men 
families  are  naturally  the  smallest.  Their  average  rent  is 
$1.20  a  family  per  month,  and  the  median  rent  is  85 
cents  a  month.  Only  one  family  pays  over  $5.00  a  month  for  its 
house.  The  Pei  T'ang  families  pay  from  50  cents  to  $7  a  month. 

JU.  S.  Census,  1910,  for  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  Pittsburg,  and  St.  Louis. 


356  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

For  them  the  average  rent  is  $2.90  a  month  and  the  median  rent 
between  $3.00  and  $4.0x3  a  month.  All  of  the  families  that  pay 
more  than  $7.00  a  month  belong  to  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  Church. 
Thirty-one  percent  of  its  members  pay  more  than  that  amount, 
so  that,  although  the  median  rent  is  between  $3.00  and  $4.0x3  a 
month,  the  average  rent  per  family  is  $6.50  a  month. 

RENT    PER    ROOM 

While  the  amount  of  rent  paid  depends  more  or  less  upon 
the  amount  of  the  family  income,  the  rent  per  room  shows  the 
housing  facilities  that  the  families  are  receiving.  The  actual 
amounts  paid  for  a  room  vary  from  less  than  25  cents  to  $20.00 
a  month,  while  the  average  rent  per  room  for  all  the  families  is 
$1.25  a  month  and  the  median  rent  $1.00.  The  average  for  the 
Ch'i  Hua  Men  families  is  55  cents  a  room,  while  for  the  Teng 
Shih  K'ou  it  is  between  $1.50  and  $1.60  a  month. 

PROPORTION    OF   INCOME   SPENT   FOR   RENT 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  and  the  Pei  T'ang 
families  are  divided  into  fairly  large  income  groups,  $250  to  $499, 
$500  to  $999  a  year,  etc.,  it  is  impossible  to  determine  what 
proportion  of  the  family  income  was  spent  for  rent,  but  the  more 
detailed  income  reports  of  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  survey  make  it 
possible  to  get  the  figures  for  the  families  included  in  that  study. 
They  spent  on  the  average  15  percent  of  their  money  income  on 
rent,  although  the  median  is  only  10  percent.  The  average  is 
raised  by  three  families  who  spend  43  percent,  44  percent  and  91 
percent  of  their  money  income  for  rent.  It  seemed  impossible  that 
any  family  could  spend  91  percent  of  its  income  for  rent  and  still 
live,  but  investigation  showed  that  it  was  91  percent  of  its  money 
income.  The  family  was  really  supported  by  gifts  of  food  and 
clothes  and  the  value  of  these  was  not  included  by  the  investi- 
gator. If  the  value  of  all  such  perquisites  were  included,  the 
Ch'i  Hua  Men  families  would  spend  on  the  average  about  13 
percent  of  their  income  for  rent,  or  very  nearly  the  same  propor- 
tion as  is  spent  by  families  in  Great  Britain  and  Saxony,  Ger- 
many. In  those  countries  the  average  is  13.48  percent  and  12 
percent,  respectively,  while  for  Illinois  and  Massachusetts  the 
figures  are  17.2  percent  and  19.74  percent.1 

ROOMS   PER   FAMILY 

Just  half  of  the  families  are  living  in  one  or  two  rooms.  The 
largest  house  has  40  rooms  and  the  average  has  3.6  rooms.  The 

1  Ely  and  Wicker:   Elementary   Principles   of  Economics, 


CHURCH  SURVEY 


357 


TENG     SH1H    I6'OU 

PCI    T'ANG 


CH'i     HUA    MEN 
TOTAL 

Figure  34:     Persons  Per  Room 


Teng  Shih  K'ou  families  have,  on  the  average,  4.6  rooms  for 
each  family,  while  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  families  have  but  2.4.  By 
a  "room"  is  meant  a  Chinese  "chien,"  which  is  the  space  between 
two  roof  trusses.  Since  a  "room"  defined  according  to  western 
standards  may  contain  one,  two,  three,  or  even  more  "chien,"  the 
Chinese  standard  has  been  used,  particularly  as  the  "chien"  is 
fairly  uniform  in  size,  ordinarily  measuring  10x12  feet. 


PERSONS   PER  ROOM 

The  number  of  rooms  per  family  tells  but  little  about  living 
conditions  unless  it  is  related  to  the  size  of  the  family.  Just  half 
of  the  church  families  have  one  room  or  more  for  each  of  its 
members.  Two  families  are  living  with  six  in  a  room  and  one 
with  seven.  These  are  families  whose  income  is  less  than  $100  a 
year.  The  average  for  all  the  families  is  1.9  persons  per  room. 
In  each  of  the  six  income  groups  in  the  Terig  Shih  K'ou  and  Pei 
T'ang  churches,  as  the  size  of  the  income  decreases  the  average 
number  of  persons  per  room  increases.  For  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou 
families  the  average  is  1.8  and  for  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  families  2.5. 
Considering  the  size  of  the  Chinese  "chien,"  a  family  cannot  be 
said  to  be  really  crowded  unless  they  average  three  or  four  per- 
sons to  a  room.  On  this  basis  27  percent  of  the  families  are 
crowded. 


358  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

BEDS    PER    FAMILY 

An  attempt  was  made  to  secure  more  detailed  information 
concerning  the  crowding  of  the  families  by  asking  how  many 
k'angs  or  beds  each  family  had,  but  unfortunately  on  the  cards 
for  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  and  Pei  T'ang  surveys,  the  question  was 
translated  into  Chinese  in  such  a  way  that  many  of  the  families 
failed  to  answer  it.  The  Chinese  use  two  kinds  of  beds,  one,  a 
k'ang,  or  built-in  brick  bed,  that  occupies  one  side  of  a  room, 
ordinarily  six  feet  wide  and  from  eight  to  ten  feet  long,  the 
other  a  movable  bed  that  at  most  accommodates  two  people. 
Many  of  those  who  had  only  the  latter  type  of  bed  felt  that  the 
question  as  asked  did  not  apply  to  them  and  so  omitted  it.  The 
question  as  revised  for  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  study  gave  better 
results.  The  families  that  did  answer  the  question  have,  on  the 
average,  1.9  beds  or  k'angs,  while  the  number  of  persons  per 
bed  averages  2.8.  This  would  be  a  very  high  average  for  Ameri- 
can living  conditions,  but  the  size  of  the  Chinese  k'ang  makes 
it  possible  for  several  people  to  sleep  on  it  without  crowding. 
Even  so,  such  a  high  average  means  that  some  families  are  very 
crowded.  Eleven  had  five  persons  for  each  bed  or  k'ang,  five 
had  six  and  three  had  seven. 


SERVANTS 

Before  the  survey  was  made,  it  was  realized  that  quite  a  num- 
ber of  families  would  include  servants,  and  at  first  an  attempt 
was  made  to  have  them  included  in  the  study,  but  this  was  found 
to  be  impossible.  In  some  cases,  as  in  a  school  or  the  Y.M.C.A., 
the  servants  could  not  be  called  members  of  the  family,  and  in 
many  others  it  was  practically  impossible  to  get  any  information 
about  the  servants,  except  perhaps  their  name  and  sex.  Conse- 
quently, no  servants  are  included  in  the  statistics. 

Forty  families  had  one  or  more  servants.  Thirty  of  these 
were  Teng  Shih  K'ou  families  and  ten  belonged  to  the  Pei  T'ang 
families.  Five  was  the  largest  number  of  servants  in  any  one 
family.  The  Ch'i  Hua  Men  families  had  no  servants. 

To  one  accustomed  to  American  standards  of  living,  it  seems 
strange  to  think  of  a  family  with  an  income  of  not  more  than  $20 
a  month  employing  a  servant,  but  in  Peking  servants  can  be 
secured  for  $3  a  month  and  their  board.  Furthermore,  some 
servants  are  really  slaves.  They  were  sold  by  their  parents  when 
they  were  children,  and  have  been  brought  up  to  serve  their 
masters;  they  are  subject  to  their  orders  and  are  given  only 
food  and  clothes.  A  school-teacher  tells  of  a  wealthy  girl  who 
brought  two  slave  girls  with  her  when  she  came  to  Peking  to 


CHURCH  SURVEY 


HIGHER    SCHOOLS 
H  MIDDLE    SCHOOL 
ED  GOOD    CHINESE 

M  •  MALE  F 


B    CAN    READ 
H    CANNOT    BEAD 
B    NO    DATA 

FEMALE  T-  TOTAL 


Figure  35:     Education 

school.  They  attended  classes  and  were  really  members  of  the 
school,  and  it  was  hard  to  understand  why  they  had  come  until 
it  was  found  that  their  mistress  was  using  them  at  night  as  foot 
warmers,  one  for  each  foot. 


EDUCATION 

Next  to  the  figures  for  income,  those  for  education  give  the 
best  idea  of  the  potential  power  of  the  church  group.  Only  16 
percent  of  those  who  are  10  years  of  age  or  over  are  known  to 
be  unable  to  read,  67  percent  can  read,  8  percent  have  had  a  good 
Chinese  education,  15  percent  have  had  middle  school  training, 
and  6  percent  have  attended  some  higher  school.  This  latter 
group  includes  10  returned  students  (those  who  have  studied 
abroad),  17  who  have  studied  theology,  law,  medicine,  electrical 
engineering,  flying  in  a  school  in  China,  22  who  have  attended  a 
Chinese  university  or  college  and  6  who  have  had  commercial 


360  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

or  Bible  school  training,  a  total  of  55,  45  men  and  10  women. 
Thirty-four  of  this  group  belong  to  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  and  21 
to  the  Pei  T'ang  families,  none  of  the  members  of  the  Ch'i  Hua 
Men  families  having  had  any  higher  school  education,  though 
seven  have  studied  in  a  middle  school.  All  of  the  returned  stu- 
dents are  members  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  families. 

The  heading  "Good  Chinese"  was  put  in  the  educational 
classification  to  care  for  those  who,  because  of  the  comparatively 
recent  change  from  the  old  classical  education  to  the  modern 
system,  could  not  be  included  in  either  the  middle  or  higher  school 
groups,  but  who  nevertheless  had  had  a  good  education. 

As  would  be  expected,  many  more  men  than  women  have  had 
a  good  education.  Thirty-two  percent  of  the  men  have  had  a 
"Good  Chinese,"  middle  or  higher  school  education,  but  only  12 
percent  of  the  women  are  included  in  these  groups.  Three  times 
as  many  women  as  men  are  unable  to  read,  123  women  and  39 
men. 

Unfortunately  no  report  was  made  on  the  education  of  170 
persons,  17  percent  of  those  over  nine  years  of  age.  These 
consequently  had  to  be  put  under  the  heading  "No  Data."  They 
probably  belong  to  the  "Can  Read"  and  "Cannot  Read"  groups, 
as  it  is  fairly  certain  that  a  report  has  been  made  for  all  of  those 
who  can  be  included  in  the  higher  groups.  Even  if  all  the  "No 
Data"  group  should  be  unable  to  read,  only  one  person  out  of 
three  would  be  illiterate.  The  actual  amount  of  illiteracy  is  prob- 
ably about  25  percent,  15  to  17  percent  for  the  men  and  about  40 
percent  for  the  women. 

A  very  large  proportion  (59  percent)  of  the  women  of  the 
Ch'i  Hua  Men  families  cannot  read,  but  this  is  not  surprising 
considering  the  district  in  which  they  live,  the  available  oppor- 
tunities for  education,  the  attitude  of  most  of  the  Chinese  toward 
the  education  of  women  and  particularly  the  size  of  the  family 
incomes.  The  41  percent  who  can  read  is  a  much  larger  propor- 
tion than  will  be  found  in  the  ordinary  Chinese  community.  Even 
now  in  Peking,  only  one  in  twenty  of  the  girls  of  school  age  is  in 
school,  and  in  all  of  China  only  one  in  three  hundred. 

The  efforts  of  the  missionaries  to  educate  those  with  whom 
they  come  in  contact  have  certainly  produced  results  and  these 
results  are  shown  by  the  high  degree  of  literacy  of  the  Chinese 
families.  All  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  and  Pei  T'ang  families  have 
at  least  one  member  who  can  read,  and  while  there  are  12  of  the 
Ch'i  Hua  'Men  families  in  which  no  one  can  read,  the  condition 
is  not  as  bad  as  it  seems.  Ten  of  the  12  are  families  with  one 
member,  while  the  other  two  have  two  and  three  members. 

Even  for  most  of  those  who  cannot  read,  the  situation  is  far 
from  hopeless  as  only  a  small  proportion  of  them  are  too  old  to 


CHURCH  SURVEY  361 

learn.  Twenty-eight  percent  of  the  men  and  19  percent  of  the 
women  who  cannot  read  are  less  than  26  years  old,  while  60 
percent  of  the  men  and  41  percent  of  the  women  are  still  under 
36  years  of  age.  With  a  special  effort  on  the  part  of  the  church 
and  the  church  families,  most  of  those  who  are  illiterate  can  be 
taught  to  read,  particularly  if  some  night  schools  are  opened 
for  them,  and  they  can  be  taught  the  new  system  of  phonetic 
script  that  makes  it  possible  for  a  person  to  learn  to  read  in  a 
month  or  two. 

NEWSPAPERS 

One-quarter  (26  percent)  of  the  families  subscribe  to  one  or 
more  newspapers.  One  out  of  three  (36  percent)  of  the  Teng 
Shih  K'ou  families  are  subscribers,  but  only  one  out  of  25  (4 
percent)  of  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  families  receives  a  newspaper 
regularly.  The  list  of  newspapers  taken  includes  23  of  the  72 
papers  published  in  Peking.  The  Chung  Ching  Pao  was  the 
most  popular  with  23  subscriptions  and  the  Yi  Shih  Pao  or 
Social  Welfare  next,  with  u.  It  is  interesting  to  note  how, 
in  the  different  income  groups  in  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  and  Pei 
T'ang  studies,  the  proportion  of  families  subscribing  for  a  paper 
decreases  regularly  as  the  income  decreases.  Ninety-four  per- 
cent of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  families  whose  income  is  over  $1,000 
a  year  take  a  paper,  but  only  3  percent  of  the  Pei  T'ang  families 
that  receive  less  than  $100  a  year  subscribe. 

AMUSEMENTS 

The  favorite  amusements  of  the  people  are  interesting,  in  that 
they  are  a  sidelight  on  their  life.  Music,  reading  and  singing  are 
by  far  the  most  popular  amusements,  though  the  more  strenuous 
sports  of  tennis,  basketball,  exercising  and  gardening  appeal  to 
quite  a  number.  Four  said  that  their  favorite  amusement  was 
talking.  To  one  accustomed  to  western  life,  the  recreational 
side  of  Chinese  life  seems  very  limited  and  greatly  in  need  of 
development,  particularly  as  so  much  of  it  is  commercialized  and 
consequently  out  of  reach  of  those  whose  income  is  small. 

CHRISTIAN   ASSOCIATION   MEMBERSHIP 

Thirty-three  of  the  men  and  31  of  the  women  were  members 
of  the  Young  Men's  or  Young  Women's  Christian  Association. 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


N  CH.  ATTENDANCE  CONTRIBUTORS  VOL 


A-TENG    SHIH    IC'OU 

B  -  PE1    T'ANG 

C  -CH'l    HUA   MEN 

D  -  TOTAL    y  THREE    CHURCHES 

Figure  36:     Church  Relationships 


CHURCH    RELATIONSHIP 

The  fundamental  figures  in  any  church  survey  are,  of  course, 
those  for  church  relationship  They  show  how  well  the  church  is 
taking  advantage  of  the  opportunities  it  has  of  reaching  the  non- 
Christians  in  the  families  of  its  members,  how  regularly  its 
members  are  attending  the  church  services  and  contributing  to 
the  church  work  and  how  many  are  willing  to  give  part  of  their 
time  in  voluntary  service  for  the  church.  The  three  churches 
included  in  this  survey  can  well  be  proud  of  the  fact  that  60 
percent  of  the  members  of  the  families  studied  have  been  bap- 
tized or  are  related  to  the  church  as  inquirers  or  probationers. 
This  is  a  very  high  proportion,  especially  as  the  churches  have  but 
recently  come  in  touch  with  many  of  the  families,  perhaps  through 
some  of  their  younger  members,  and  so  have  not  yet  had  time  to 
reach  the  older  and  more  conservative  people.  In  one  family  of 
20  members,  only  two  were  related  to  the  church  and  they  had  not 
yet  been  baptized. 

The  records  show  that  651  persons  have  been  baptized,  50  are 
on  probation  and  22  are  listed  as  inquirers,  a  total  of  723  persons 
definitely  related  to  the  church;  393  (54  percent)  are  men  and 


CHURCH  SURVEY  363 

330  are  women,  which  is  62  percent  of  all  the  males  and  57 
percent  of  all  the  females.  The  general  conditions  of  Chinese 
life  and  the  fact  that  women  the  world  over  tend  to  be  more 
conservative  than  men,  particularly  in  regard  to  religion,  and  find 
it  hard  to  give  up  their  old  beliefs,  will  probably  account  for  a 
larger  proportion  of  men  being  related  to  the  church.  Sixty- 
seven  percent  of  the  members  of  the  Pei  T'ang  families  and  65 
percent  of  those  belonging  to  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men  families  are  re- 
lated to  the  church,  but  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  families  only  53 
percent.  This  lower  percentage  in  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  families 
is  probably  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  a  very  considerable 
proportion  (25  percent)  of  its  families  have  been  in  Peking  less 
than  six  years,  and  the  church  has  not  had  time  to  reach  the 
entire  family.  Furthermore,  quite  a  number  of  those  who  are 
students  come  from  well-to-do  families,  and  are  living  at  home. 
Consequently,  all  the  members  of  their  families  are  included  in 
the  survey,  which  tends  to  reduce  the  proportion  related  to  the 
church.  In  the  other  churches,  most  of  the  students  are  living 
away  from  home,  and  so  are  classed  by  the  survey  as  families 
whose  entire  membership  is  related  to  the  church. 

BAPTIZED  CHILDREN 

Since  the  children  are  baptized  only  when  the  parents  are 
Christians  it  was  felt  that  in  making  the  statistics  a  distinction 
should  be  made  between  those  who  were  old  enough  to  join  the 
church  of  their  own  volition  and  those  who  would  be  baptized 
because  of  the  desires  of  their  parents.  Fifteen  years  of 
age  (Chinese)  was  made  the  dividing  line,  and  it  was  found 
that  70  percent  of  all  those  over  14  were  related  to  the  church. 
For  the  Pei  T'ang  and  Ch'i  Hua  Men  churches  the  proportion  is 
still  higher,  78  and  80  percent  of  those  over  14.  Only  30  percent 
of  the  children  under  15  have  been  baptized. 

CHURCH    ATTENDANCE 

Although  the  churches  have  succeeded  in  baptizing  or  enroll- 
ing as  probationers  or  inquirers  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
members  of  the  families  with  which  they  are  in  touch,  they  have 
not  been  so  successful  in  getting  the  members  to  come  to  church. 
Only  6 1  percent  of  those  who  are  related  to  the  church  say  that 
they  are  attending  the  church  services  regularly,  that  is,  at  least 
once  a  month.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  although  the  Teng 
Shih  K'ou  Church  has  not  been  able  to  reach  as  large  a  propor- 
tion of  the  members  of  its  families  as  have  the  other  churches, 
it  is  successful  in  getting  a  very  much  larger  proportion  of  its 


364  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

members  to  attend  regularly,  74  percent  as  compared  with  50 
and  51  percent  for  the  Pei  T'ang  and  Ch'i  Hua  Men  chapels. 

REGULAR    CONTRIBUTIONS 

Although  61  percent  of  those  who  are  related  to  the  church 
are  attending  services  at  least  once  a  month,  only  50  percent  say 
that  they  are  regularly  contributing  to  the  support  of  the  church, 
"regularly"  here  again  meaning  once  a  month.  The  Teng  Shih 
K'ou  figures  again  bring  up  the  average.  Fifty-nine  percent  of  its 
members  are  regularly  contributing,  while  only  43  and  45  percent 
of  those  who  are  related  to  the  Pei  T'ang  and  Ch'i  Hua  Men 
churches  give  anything  regularly.  This  would  be  expected  be- 
cause of  the  smaller  incomes  of  the  Pei  T'ang  and  Ch'i  Hua  Men 
families,  but  even  so  it  does  not  seem  as  though  one  copper  a 
month  is  too  much  to  expect  of  any  one  who  belongs  to  the 
church,  and  that  more  of  an  effort  ought  to  be  made  to  have  every 
member  give  something. 

Although  59  percent  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  members  are 
contributing  regularly,  the  amount  of  the  contributions  is  not 
large  even  though  the  survey  shows  that  many  of  the  families 
have  large  incomes.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  one  out  of  eight  of 
its  families  has  an  income  of  over  $1,000  a  year,  and  one  out  of 
five  receives  over  $500  a  year,  the  church  finds  it  hard  to  collect 
$1,000  a  year  from  its  members.  It  even  has  to  depend  upon  the 
missionaries  and  other  foreign  friends  to  raise  the  $200  spent  to 
heat  the  building.  On  the  other  hand  it  must  be  remembered  that 
while  many  of  these  family  incomes  are  large,  those  who  are 
related  to  the  church  are  many  times  unable  to  give  any,  even 
when  they  want  to.  A  woman  belongs  to  the  church,  but  her 
husband  is  still  an  ardent  Confucianist  or  a  Buddhist.  He  has 
absolute  control  of  the  family  income  and  is  not  at  all  anxious  to 
see  any  of  it  go  for  Christian  work.  In  other  cases  the  younger 
members  of  the  family  are  related  to  the  church,  and  although 
the  income  of  their  family  is  fairly  large,  they  themselves  have 
little  if  any  money  that  they  can  give  to  the  church.  Even  under 
these  conditions,  however,  it  does  seem  as  though  the  church 
ought  to  be  able  to  increase  both  the  number  who  are  giving  and 
the  amount  of  their  gifts.  Complete  self-support  and  contribu- 
tions for  mission  work  ought  to  be  perfectly  possible  for  a  church 
whose  families  have  the  financial  standing  of  those  belonging  to 
the  Teng  Shih  K'ou,  but  where  the  families  have  an  average 
income  of  but  $1.96  per  person  per  month,  as  in  the  Ch'i  Hua 
Men,  it  is  hard  to  see  how  they  can  be  asked  to  spare  enough  to 
ever  make  the  church  self-supporting.  This  type  of  church 
should  be  the  home  mission  field  for  the  more  well-to-do  churches. 


CHURCH  SURVEY  365 

SUNDAY   SCHOOL   ATTENDANCE 

Only  one  out  of  three  (34  percent)  of  all  those  who  are  re- 
lated to  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  and  Pei  T'ang  churches  attend  Sun- 
day School  regularly,  which  is  a  fairly  large  proportion  consider- 
ing that  only  61  percent  of  the  same  group  attend  church  regu- 
larly. The  Ch'i  Hua  Men  Chapel  has  not  yet  organized  a  Sunday 
School. 

VOLUNTARY    SERVICE 

The  greatest  lack  in  the  church  life  in  China  seems  to  be  in 
the  field  of  service.  The  figures  show  that  on  the  evangelistic 
side  the  church  is  able  to  reach  and  convert  a  very  large  propor- 
tion (60  percent)  of  the  members  of  the  families  with  which  it  is 
in  touch.  It  succeeds  fairly  well  in  getting  its  members  to  attend 
the  church  services  and  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  church, 
but  it  has  not  succeeded  in  getting  its  members  to  give  of  their 
time.  Only  76  persons,  10  percent  of  all  those  who  belong  to  the 
church,  or  12  percent  of  the  church  members  who  are  over  14 
years  of  age,  are  doing  any  voluntary  work  for  the  church. 

That  more  are  not  giving  of  their  time  seems  to  be  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  church  does  not  offer,  as  yet,  many  different  oppor- 
tunities for  service.  Those  who  say  they  are  doing  voluntary 
work  for  the  church  are  preaching,  teaching  a  class,  doing  per- 
sonal work,  acting  as  church  officers  or  keeping  church  records. 
None  of  the  answers  to  the  question,  What  voluntary  work  are 
you  doing  for  the  church  ?  give  any  evidence  that  the  Chinese  think 
of  any  social  service  work  as  connected  with  their  church  life, 
even  though  it  is  known  that  quite  a  number  are  working  in 
connection  with  some  of  the  charitable  institutions  of  the  city. 
Consequently,  the  church  has  but  little  to  offer  in  the  line  of 
service,  and  the  church  life  of  most  of  the  members  consists  in 
attending  services  more  or  less  regularly,  and  contributing  some 
money.  For  the  great  majority  of  them  there  is  no  outlet  in 
church  service  for  the  emotions  that  come  with  their  Christian 
life. 

The  question  has  often  arisen  in  our  minds,  After  you  have 
a  person  baptized,  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  him?  and, 
Hasn't  the  time  come  for  the  church  to  develop  lines  of  service 
that  will  appeal  to  these  people  and  give  them  a  chance  to  express 
their  desire  for  service  in  lines  that  are  definitely  connected  with 
the  church  ?  It  is  realized  that  the  church  in  China  has  been  and 
is  facing  many  problems,  and  that  the  first  aim  and  object  of  the 
church  must  always  be  evangelism.  However,  as  the  number  of 
church  members  has  increased  and  there  has  teen  need  for  it, 
the  mission  forces  have  developed  an  educational  system  to  care 


366  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

for  the  children  of  the  church  members  and  to  educate  those  who 
are  to  be  the  leaders  in  Christian  work.  Now  that  many  of  the 
problems  of  evangelism  have  been  worked  out  and  the  educational 
system  has  been  fairly  well  developed,  it  seems  as  though  the 
time  had  come  for  the  development  of  the  service  side  of  the 
church  life. 

NEED    FOR    SOCIAL   SERVICE 

The  survey  figures  have  shown  that  the  education  and  income 
of  the  church  families  make  it  possible  for  them  to  stand  well 
in  the  community  and  contribute  their  full  share  of  leadership  to 
the  life  of  the  city,  their  Christian  ideals  have  undoubtedly  pro- 
duced a  desire  for  service,  but  although  the  desire  and  ability  to 
serve  are  present,  experience  is  lacking.  The  old  methods  of 
work  are  not  satisfactory  and  must  be  changed,  and  outside  help 
is  needed  in  developing  new  plans  and  adapting  the  experience 
of  other  countries  to  Chinese  life.  The  mission  forces  ought  to 
give  this  assistance,  both  because  of  the  contribution  they  can 
make  to  the  Chinese  life  and  because  of  the  development  that  it 
will  bring  to  the  life  of  the  church.  It  is  true  that  considerable 
experimenting  will  have  to  be  done,  that  it  will  require  both  men 
and  money  to  carry  out  any  program  that  may  be  adopted  and 
that  some  will  feel  that  it  is  not  right  to  take  either  the  men  or 
the  money  from  the  evangelistic  side  of  the  church  work.  It  is 
our  belief,  however,  that  such  service  will  mean  great  progress 
for  the  church.  It  will  give  the  church  members  something 
definite  to  do,  it  will  give  them  a  chance  to  give  some  service  and 
make  their  church  life  mean  more  than  reading  the  Bible  and 
coming  to  church,  it  will  undoubtedly  increase  the  amount  of 
money  that  the  Chinese  are  willing  to  contribute  to  the  church  and 
will  make  it  possible  for  the  church  to  reach  many  who  are  now 
unwilling  to  take  an  interest  in  Christianity  because  of  its 
apparent  lack  of  a  practical  program. 

The  change  in  the  social  life  is  bound  to  come.  The  Chinese 
are  already  asking  for  advice  as  they  develop  new  social  pro- 
grams. How  much  improvement  there  will  be  depends  largely 
upon  the  amount  of  help  that  is  given.  If  the  Chinese  have  to 
work  out  their  problems  alone  they  will  probably  not  make  a 
great  deal  of  progress,  while  if  they  can  profit  by  the  experience 
of  other  countries  they  will  go  far  before  the  present  state  of 
change  becomes  stabilized  and  fixed. 

It  is  vital  that  the  Christian  forces  decide  whether  or  not  they 
are  going  to  help  in  the  development  of  the  new  social  life.  If 
they  decide  to  help,  the  church  will  be  able  to  establish  itself  as 
an  institution  that  is  interested  in  the  life  and  needs  of  the  people. 
If  they  do  not  help,  the  church  will  lose  one  of  the  biggest  oppor- 


CHURCH  SURVEY  367 

tunities  it  has  had  and  will  develop  into  an  institution  that  is 
detached  from  the  life  of  the  people  and  will  consequently  fail 
to  have  either  the  growth  or  the  influence  that  it  should. 

The  social  movement  needs  men  who  are  actuated  by  Chris- 
tian motives,  for  experience  has  shown  that  they  are  the  ones  who 
are  willing1  to  carry  a  proposition  through,  even  though  it  means 
hard  work  and  sacrifice.  The  church  needs  the  social  work  to 
help  develop  the  spiritual  life  of  its  members.  Will  the  mission 
forces  be  wise  enough  to  bring  the  two  together  ? 


CHAPTER  XVI 
RELIGIOUS  WORK 

Peking,  dotted  as  it  is  with  ancient  temples  and  shrines, 
modern  churches  and  chapels,  has  long  been  an  important  re- 
ligious center  as  well  as  the  political  and  educational  center  of 
Chnia.  The  ancient  faiths  received  Imperial  patronage,  so  it  was 
but  natural  that  their  important  shrines  should  be  in  or  near  the 
city ;  and  since  Peking  is  one  of  the  most  influential  cities  in  the 
country  it  has  become  the  home  of  large  mission  forces  repre- 
senting Roman  Catholic,  Greek  Catholic  and  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity. The  Altar  and  Temple  of  Heaven  was  the  center  of  the 
old  Chinese  Worship  of  Heaven  and  the  center  of  the  altar  was 
considered  by  the  ancient  Chinese  scholars  to  be  the  actual  math- 
ematical center  of  the  universe.  The  Temple  of  Confucius,  next 
to  the  one  at  Chufu,  Shantung,  his  home  and  burial  place,  is  the 
central  shrine  of  Confucianism.  Tibetan  Buddhism  has  estab- 
lished important  headquarters  in  Peking  for  its  priests  helped  the 
Emperor  control  Mongolia  and  Tibet  and  were  rewarded  by 
Imperial  patronage.  Peking  has  also  been  a  theological  training 
center  for  the  Mohammedans,  is  the  principal  center  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  activity  in  China,  is  almost  the  sole  center  of  the 
Russian  Orthodox  Mission,  and  is  one  of  the  most  important 
educational  and  evangelistic  centers  for  the  Protestant  churches. 

It  would  be  superfluous  in  this  survey  to  give  a  minute  de- 
scription of  the  great  temples  and  shrine^s  of  the  capital  or 
attempt  to  discuss  the  ancient  religions  and  their  influence.  This 
has  been  done  by  Martin,  Williams,  Edkins  and  many  other 
writers.  Even  of  the  Christian  missions  we  have  not  made  any 
critical  study,  but  have  attempted  to  give  by  means  of  statistics  and 
the  description  of  some  of  the  more  outstanding  institutions  an 
idea  of  the  work  that  is  being  done  in  the  city. 

ANCIENT   RELIGIONS 

The  police  report  that  there  are  936  Confucian,  Buddhist  and 
Taoist  places  of  worship  in  Peking,  divided  as  follows : 

Ssu  Monastery 296 

Miao  Temple   35§ 

An  Nunnery    169 

368 


RELIGIOUS  WORK  369 

Kuan  Taoist  Temple    29 

Tang  Family  Ancestral  Hall  8 

Tzu  Public  Ancestral  Hall   68 

Ch'an  Lin  Secluded  Buddhist  Monastery 8 

936 

The  most  famous  of  these  are  the  Temple  of  Heaven,  the  Temple 
of  Agriculture,  the  Confucian  Temple,  the  Lama  Temple. 

The  Temple  of  Heaven  is  now  no  longer  used  for  worship, 
as  the  idea  back  of  its  ceremonies  has  been  changed  by  the 
coming  of  the  Republic.  The  Emperor  was  the  Son  of  Heaven 
and  the  only  one  to  approach  the  Spirit  of  Heaven.  Since  he  has 
gone,  worship  at  the  temple  has  been  discontinued  except  for  an 
unsuccessful  attempt  to  revive  it  made  by  Yuan  Shih  K'ai. 

The  Temple  of  Agriculture  was  dedicated  to  the  cult  of  Shen 
Nung,  one  of  China's  prehistoric  emperors.  The  Emperor  wor- 
shiped there  on  the  first  day  of  spring  and  plowed  the  first  furrow 
of  the  year.  Its  altars  have  also  been  deserted  since  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Republic.  The  temple  grounds  are  now  a  public 
park,  and  an  amusement  center  has  been  established  in  the  north 
end  of  the  temple  inclosure. 

The  worship  of  Confucius,  the  great  sage  of  China,  is  still 
carried  on  in  the  spring  and  fall  at  the  Confucian  Temple.  There 
being  no  priests  in  the  temple,  those  who  take  part  in  the  worship 
are  principally  government  officials.  The  worship  is  fostered  by 
the  Confucian  Society,  an  influential  organization  of  the  older  and 
more  conservative  men  of  the  capital  who  made  a  decided  but 
unsuccessful  effort  to  make  Confucianism  the  state  religion  of 
China.  The  prime  mover  in  this  society  has  been  Dr.  Ch'en 
Huan  Chang,  an  American  returned  student  and  a  graduate  of 
Columbia  University. 

Yung  Ho  Kung,  or,  as  it  is  better  known,  the  Lama  Temple, 
though  it  is  only  the  chief  of  some  twenty  Lama  temples  in 
Peking,  with  its  hundreds  of  priests  and  acolytes,  prayer  wheels 
and  strange  images,  always  makes  a  great  impression  on  a  foreign 
visitor.  It  is  usually  the  only  contact  they  have  with  the 
Buddhism  that  has  come  through  Tibet  and  taken  on  a  great  many 
of  the  anamistic  superstitions  of  the  high  hills  and  some  of  the 
grosser  beliefs  of  India.  Services  are  held  daily  in  the  temple 
and  are  full  of  interest  with  their  chanting,  libation  of  wine, 
scattering  of  rice  and  repetition  of  prayers.  The  Devil  Dance  or 
Devil  Driving,  held  on  the  3Oth  of  the  ist  Moon,  is,  however,  the 
strangest  and  most  spectacular.  Lama  dignitaries  come  to  Peking 
especially  for  it,  gorgeous  old  style  costumes  are  brought  out, 
men  wearing  weird  and  grotesque  masks  go  through  strange 
dances,  while  others  with  snapping  whips  keep  back  the  crowds 


370  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

of  spectators  and  drive  out  any  evil  spirits  that  may  have  invaded 
the  temple  compound  during  the  year. 

Outside  of  Peking  the  hills  are  dotted  with  temples  and  mon- 
asteries, most  of  them  without  worshipers  except  on  special  fes- 
tival days,  and  supported,  for  the  most  part,  by  family  endow- 
ment funds  and  land  rentals. 

The  old  faiths  have  lost,  almost  completely,  their  hold  on  the 
intellectuals  of  China  and  are  fast  losing  all  other  classes  as  well, 
though  ancient  beliefs  and  superstitions  go  slowly  and  one  sees 
many  a  man  walking  down  the  street  on  festival  days  carrying 
with  him  candles,  incense  and  paper  money  to  be  used  in  home 
worship.  The  ancient  temples  are  going  to  ruin,  and  no  new 
ones  are  being  built.  Many  of  the  shrines  are  being  rented  out 
to  roomers  or  merchants  and  some  of  the  temples  are  being  used 
for  modern  primary  schools. 

BUDDHIST   REFORM    SOCIETY 

The  Buddhist  Reform  Society  (Li  Shang  Hui),  an  organiza- 
tion with  branches  in  all  the  provinces  of  China,  has  been  in 
Peking  since  early  in  the  Ch'ing  Dynasty  (1644-1911)  and  is  still 
one  of  the  active  Buddhist  societies.  It  is  a  temperance  or  rather 
a  prohibition  society,  its  members  pledging  themselves  to  abstain 
from  the  use  of  opium  and  tobacco  and  to  use  wine  only  when 
sick  and  snuff  only  to  strengthen  their  eyes  and  help  them  avoid 
disease.  They  do  not  kill  anything,  do  not  eat  the  meat  of  cows, 
horses,  dogs  or  doves,  nor  do  they  get  excited  or  angry.  The 
society  accepts  as  members  all  those  who  want  to  join  regardless 
of  age  or  sex,  provided  they  are  introduced  by  three  members  in 
good  standing.  The  membership  in  the  thirty- four  centers  in  and 
around  Peking  (see  map)  is  said  to  be  10,000. 

The  Peking  branches  hold  two  big  meetings  a  year,  one  in 
the  spring  and  the  other  in  the  fall.  Those  who  attend  take  part 
in  the  worship  of  Nan  Hai  Ta  Shih  and  enjoy  a  feast  for  which 
they  subscribe  anywhere  from  30  cents  to  $10.  This  pays 
for  the  feast,  for  the  salaries  of  the  men  in  charge  of  the 
various  headquarters  and  for  some  relief  given  to  deserving 
members.  During  the  service,  the  head  men  of  the  districts  act 
as  priests  and,  practically  motionless,  spend  from  three  to  four 
hours  in  prayer  and  meditation  before  the  altar.  Although  they 
have  a  position  as  disciples  of  the  deity  during  the  service,  the 
head  men  are  brothers  to  all  the  members  at  other  times,  and 
even  though  they  are  priests  for  the  worship  of  the  society,  the 
rules  of  the  order  permit  them  to  marry. 

One  of  the  priests  stated  that  the  society  made  no  special 
effort  to  increase  its  membership  or  open  new  branches,  nor  did 


RELIGIOUS  WORK 


371 


x  *• 


TEMPLES 

•  -  An  -169  *  -  Mosque  -24 

®  -  Kuan  -29          B  -  Buddhist  Reform  Society  -33 

•  -  Miao  -358         x  -  Ssu  -296 

A-TangandTzu-76 

NOTE  Mosques  and  Reform  Society  Headquarters  all  shown,  but  only  about  one  third  of  other  places  of  worship 

Figure  37 

it  attempt  to  do  any  evangelistic  work  for  Buddhism.    The  activi- 
ties of  the  society,  however,  are  given  newspaper  publicity. 

About  twenty  years  ago,  the  branch  of  the  society  in  the 
thirteenth  ward  of  the  North  City  (west  of  Hatamen  Street  and 
south  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building)  installed  some  30  street  lamps 
and  arranged  to  have  carts  make  regular  collections  of  ashes  and 
waste.  The  cost  of  this  work  was  met  by  contributions  from  the 


372  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

people  living  in  the  district,  the  money  being  collected  and  dis- 
bursed by  the  Reform  Society.  About  five  years  ago,  this  work 
was  taken  over  by  the  police  who  now  collect  the  money.  The 
district  head  of  the  Reform  Society  stated  that  he  felt  that  the 
police  were  doing  the  work  very  efficiently. 

MOHAMMEDANISM 

The  Mohammedans  have  long  been  in  Peking,  their  oldest 
mosque,  that  on  Niu  Chieh,  having  been  built  some  time  during 
the  Sung  Dynasty  (960-1278  A.D.)  when  the  Mohammedans 
first  entered  Peking  as  residents.  During  the  time  of  Ch'ien  Lung 
they  had  special  influence  at  court,  for  one  of  their  faith  was 
taken  as  a  concubine  by  the  Emperor.  A  mosque  was  built  for 
her  adjoining  the  Imperial  palace  and  she  was  allowed  to  have  a 
bodyguard  of  those  of  her  own  faith. 

The  late  Mr.  C.  L.  Ogilvie  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission  in 
Peking  gives  the  approximate  number  of  Moslems  in  and  near 
Peking  in  1914  as  30,000,  there  being  some  5,949  families  con- 
nected with  the  32  mosques  in  or  near  the  city.  Twenty-two  of 
the  mosques  with  5,069  families  were  inside  the  walls,  and  10 
with  880  families  were  within  2  miles  of  the  city.1 

According  to  the  estimate  of  one  of  the  mullahs  there  were 
25,000  Moslems  in  Peking  in  1919,  while  the  police  census  of 
1917  gives  the  number  inside  the  walls  as  23,524.  The  Peking 
Guide  Book,  published  in  1919,  gives  the  number  of  mosques  as 
30,  ten  outside  the  city,  and  it  is  known  that  a  new  one  has  just 
been  built  on  Wang  Fu  Ching  Ta  Chieh.  The  interiors  of  all  of 
the  mosques  are  in  good  repair  and  outwardly  most  of  them  are  in 
fair  condition. 

Worship  is  still  carried  on  in  all  the  mosques,  the  principal 
service  being  held  at  2  o'clock  on  Friday  afternoon.  At  that  time 
all  the  worshipers  must  take  the  "Ta  Ching"  (large  bath)  and 
change  their  clothes.  Women  take  no  part  whatsoever  in  the 
religious  services.  The  average  attendance  at  the  Friday  service 
in  all  the  mosques  is  about  843.  Preaching  is  ordinarily  done  in 
Arabic,  though  occasional  sermons  are  given  in  Chinese.  The 
addresses  usually  consist  of  exhortations  to  lead  a  good  life, 
explanations  of  the  Koran  and  general  advice. 

All  but  one  of  the  mosques  has  an  "ahong"  or  mullah  who, 
at  least,  can  read  the  Koran  in  Arabic.  The  two  best  known  of 
the  Peking  ahongs  are  Wang  Hao  Jen  at  Niu  Chieh  and  Chang 
Ch'ing  Yu  at  Chiao  Tzu  Hut'ung.  Both  of  these  men  have  made 
the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  the  latter  having  been  twice.  He  has 

»The  present  status  of  Mohammedanism  in  Peking.  The  Moslem  World,  1914. 
No.  4,  page  165. 


RELIGIOUS  WORK  373 

also  visited  Constantinople,  Jerusalem,  Moscow,  Petrograd  and 
other  important  centers. 

Practically  all  of  the  mosques  have  schools  for  their  members' 
children,  but  we  have  not  been  able  to  secure  any  figures  concern- 
ing the  number  enrolled.  For  their  more  advanced  pupils,  the 
Mohammedans  have  an  academy  with  over  twenty-five  students 
and  a  college  with  more  than  ten  students.  Just  how  many 
mosques  are  engaged  in  charitable  work  is  not  known,  but  the  one 
outside  of  Ch'i  Hua  Men  used  to  run  a  chou  ch'ang  (soup 
kitchen)  during  the  winter  months,  but  the  funds  gave  out  and 
the  work  has  been  turned  over  to  the  Military  Guard,  though  the 
food  is  still  cooked  in  the  mosque  kitchen. 

From  outward  appearance  it  is  practically  impossible  to  tell 
who  are  Moslems  in  Peking.  They  differ  from  their  neighbors 
principally  in  that  they  are  apt  to  be  cleaner  and  are  somewhat 
restricted  in  their  social  intercourse.  The  fact  that  they  do  not 
eat  pork  cuts  them  off  from  a  good  many  social  contacts,  par- 
ticularly since  eating  is  connected  with  so  much  of  the  Chinese 
life.  There  are  some  Mohammedans  in  government  employ,  some 
have  money  shops  and  large  stores,  some  run  dairies,  but  by  far 
the  majority  are  dealers  in  mutton,  or  camel,  donkey  and  cart 
drivers,  the  caravan  trade  to  the  city  being  almost  entirely  in 
their  hands. 

CHRISTIANITY   IN    PEKING  * 

Just  when  Christianity  came  to  Peking  is  not  known.  Nes- 
torian  monks  were  at  work  in  China  in  the  Seventh  Century,  but 
it  is  doubtful  that  they  visited  Peking,  then  only  the  residence  of 
a  military  governor.  Giovanni  Di  Monte  Corvino,  was  the  first 
known  Christian  missionary  to  come  to  Peking.  He  arrived  in 
1293,  bringing  with  him  letters  of  introduction  from  the  Pope 
Nicholas  IV.  The  first  missionary  of  the  Russian  Orthodox 
Church  was  brought  to  Peking  a  prisoner  in  1685  after  the  cap- 
ture of  Albazin.  Protestant  mission  work  was  begun  when  the 
representatives  of  the  London  Mission  arrived  in  1861,  the  year 
after  Peking  was  opened  to  the  residence  of  foreign  diplomats  and 
missionaries. 

THE   ROMAN    CATHOLIC    CHURCH 

The  Roman  Catholics  are  the  largest  and  oldest  body  of 
Christians  in  Peking.  Their  work  is  conducted  in  five  large  cen- 
ters, each  with  its  cathedral,  which  are  by  far  the  most  imposing 
of  the  church  buildings  in  Peking.  The  largest  and  finest  is  the 

1  See  detailed  information  in  Appendix  XII  relative  to  the  amount  of  Christian 
work  being  done  in  Peking,  by  the  Chinese  themselves  as  well  as  by  foreigners. 


874  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

Pel  T'ang  (North  Cathedral),  just  inside  the  west  wall  of  trie 
Imperial  City,  where  in  1900  a  little  band  of  Catholic  fathers  and 
sisters  with  less  than  fifty  French  and  Italian  soldiers  success- 
fully defended  themselves  and  some  3,000  native  Christians  from 
the  attacks  of  the  Boxers. 

The  Jesuit  fathers,  of  whom  there  are  some  57,  are  carrying 
on  evangelistic,  educational,  publishing  and  other  work.  With 
the  exception  of  two,  one  Irish  and  one  Australian,  all  the  foreign 
priests  are  French.  According  to  the  1918  report,  the  Peking 
churches  had  9,744  members,  or  nearly  twice  as  many  as  the 
Protestant  and  Anglican  adherents  combined.  The  1917  police 
census  gives  the  number  of  Catholics  as  8,166.  Adult  baptisms 
during  1918  numbered  301. 

The  Sisters  of  Charity  are  doing  hospital,  philanthropic  and 
educational  work.  The  hospital  of  Saint  Michel  on  Legation 
Street  and  the  Hospital  of  Saint  Vincent  in  the  Pei  T'ang  Com- 
pound are  caring  for  some  1,473  patients  a  year.  In  1917,  21,940 
patients  were  cared  for  in  their  homes,  while  469,394  patients 
were  treated  in  the  eleven  dispensaries  of  the  Order.1  Some  of 
the  sisters  are  nursing  in  the  Chung  Yang  Government  Hospital 
in  the  West  City. 

The  Jenzeutang  Orphanage,  one  of  the  best  conducted  philan- 
thropic institutions  in  China,  is  also  run  by  this  order.  It  is  caring 
for  some  392  children  and  is  giving  them  an  industrial  as  well  as 
a  classical  training.  Among  the  trades  taught  are  sewing  and 
embroidery,  carpentry,  metal  working,  printing  and  engraving. 
The  Hospice  of  Saint  Joseph,  with  its  old  people's  home,  work 
rooms  and  schools,  is  also  under  their  management. 

The  eight  Franciscan  Missionaries  of  Mary  have  a  large  home 
on  San  Tiao  Hut'ung,  where  they  have  classes  in  French,  English 
and  Chinese,  and  are  teaching  industrial  work,  embroidery  and 
lace  making  to  the  girls  under  their  care. 

The  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  with  seventy  representatives,  have 
their  headquarters  at  the  Pei  T'ang,  but  are  apparently  doing 
most  of  their  work  outside  of  Peking,  as  they  have  22  stations  in 
the  North  Chihli  District. 

The  report  for  the  schools  in  Peking  and  immediate  vicinity 
shows  a  total  of  1,737  students,  but  it  is  impossible  to  determine 
how  many  of  these  are  in  higher  schools  and  how  many  are  girls.2 
In  the  North  Chihli  District  there  is  one  seminary,  with  128 
students;  the  colleges  have  1,389  students.  There  are  also  6,645 
boys  in  302  schools  and  4,466  girls  in  185  schools,  a  total  of 
12,628  students. 

1  It  was  impossible  to  tell  whether  the  report  included  Peking  or  Peking  and 
vicinity. 

*  See  Appendix  for  detailed  report. 


RELIGIOUS  WORK  375 


THE  RUSSIAN   ORTHODOX   MISSION 

Peking,  until  1860,  was  the  only  important  mission  center  of 
the  Greek  Catholic  Church  in  China,  and  until  1900  very  little 
work  was  done  outside  of  the  capital. 

The  beginnings  of  the  Russian  Orthodox  Mission  in  China 
are  described  by  Bishop  Innocent  as  follows : 1 

"The  beginning  of  the  Russian  Orthodox  Mission  in  China  dates  as 
far  back  as  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century.  During  the  reign  of  the 
Emperor,  K'ang-hsi,  the  Chinese  conquered  Albazin,  a  fortress  on  the 
Amur  river,  taking  forty-five  Russian  prisoners.  Among  this  number 
was  a  priest,  Father  Maximus  Leontieff.  He  reached  Peking  near  the 
end  of  the  year,  1685,  bringing  with  him  the  thaumaturgical  image  of 
St.  Nicholas,  Bishop  of  Mirlikysk.  Thus  the  first  missionary  of  the 
Russian  Orthodoxy,  contrary  to  his  own  will,  settled  himself  at  the  north- 
eastern corner  of  the  Manchu  City  where  he  lived  for  twenty  years, 
serving  the  spiritual  needs  of  his  little  flock.  The  services  were  con- 
ducted in  a  small  chapel,  transformed  from  a  Chinese  temple.  After 
the  expiration  of  ten  years  a  holy  communion  cloth  and  a  letter  of 
credence  were  received  from  the  Metropolitan  of  Tobolsk,  and  the  little 
chapel  was  consecrated  as  the  Church  of  St.  Sofia — the  wisdom  of  God. 
In  his  letters,  the  Metropolitan  ordered  that  prayer  be  made  for  the 
Chinese  emperor  and  that  preaching  to  the  Chinese  be  begun.  In  1712, 
twenty-seven  years  after  his  arrival  in  Peking,  Father  Maximus  died. 
The  place  of  his  burial  remains  unknown.  He  was  a  good  pastor,  who 
willingly  shared  the  fate  of  his  flock,  and  at  the  request  of  the  Chinese 
government  accompanied  the  Chinese  soldiers  to  war." 

In  this  first  period  the  finances  of  the  Peking  Mission  were 
supplied  by  the  Russian  Government,  as  the  object  of  the  mission 
was  the  promotion  of  the  political  interests  of  Russia  through  the 
missionaries.  Frequently  official  orders  were  issued  and  received 
advising  caution  with  reference  to  the  preaching  of  Christianity, 
and  at  times  strictly  forbidding  any  evangelism  among  the 
heathen. 

The  principal  effect  of  the  early  missionary  work  was  the 
introduction  into  Europe  of  "a  knowledge  of  the  Chinese  lan- 
guage and  literature,  Chinese  customs  and  manners  of  living, 
Chinese  flora  and  fauna,  Chinese  ethnography  and  medicine," 
for  many  of  the  early  missionaries  were  great  students  of 
Chinese. 

At  the  close  of  this  first  period  (1860),  "Peking  was  the  only 
important  missionary  center,  and  here  the  mission  numbered  less 
than  two  hundred  Christians,  including  the  descendants  of  the 
Albazin  prisoners." 

The  second  period  (1860-1902)  was  marked,  principally,  by 

1  The   Chinese  Recorder,  October,    1916. 


376  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

the  translation  of  a  large  number  of  sacred  books,  many  of  the 
mission  workers  devoting  themselves  almost  exclusively  to  study 
and  the  production  of  literature.  The  most  famous  of  the  many 
sinologues  are : 

Archimandrite  Gury  Karpoff  (1858-1864),  Archimandrite 
Pallady  Kaffaroff  (1849-1859,  1864-1878),  Father  Flavian  (1878- 
1884),  and  Archimandrite  Amfilohy  Loutovinoff  (1883-1896). 

The  difficulties  of  this  second  period  of  the  development  of 
the  Russian  Church  in  China  are  summarized  by  Bishop  Innocent 
as  follows: 

"The  reasons  for  the  slight  progress  of  these  years  are :  ( i )  sufficient 
money  was  not  provided  to  enable  the  head  of  the  mission  and  his 
assistants  to  preach  in  places  outside  of  Peking  and  thus  extend  the  work 
of  the  mission;  (2)  the  missionaries  sent  to  China  came  without  any 
knowledge  of  Chinese  and  were,  therefore,  obliged  to  devote  much  of  the 
time  to  acquiring  the  language,  and  had  little  left  for  educational  and 
evangelistic  work.  At  the  close  of  the  second  period  in  the  history  of 
the  Russian  Orthodox  Mission  the  number  of  the  baptized  was  not  more 
than  five  hundred.  Two  new  churches  had  been  opened,  one  in  Hankow 
and  the  other  in  Kalgan,  but  neither  of  these  was  of  any  great  missionary 
significance." 

The  recent  development  of  the  Greek  Church  in  Peking  is 
described  by  Bishop  Innocent  (then  Archimandrite  Innocent)  as 
follows : 

"In  March,  1897,  Archimandrite  Innocent  arrived  in  Peking.  Seeing 
everything  badly  crippled,  he  immediately  initiated  a  work  of  reform. 
These  reforms  were  (a)  the  introduction  of  a  monastery  together  with 
social  regulations  for  the  missionaries;  (b)  daily  services  (Liturgies)  in 
Chinese;  (c)  the  establishment  of  a  business  in  order  to  support  some  of 
the  poor  Albazins  with  business  ability;  (d)  the  sending  of  preachers 
out  from  Peking  to  spread  the  Gospel;  (e)  the  organization  of  Parish 
activities;  and  (f)  the  establishment  of  local  works  of  charity. 

"The  year  1900  brought  its  troubles  to  the  Russian  Orthodox  Mission 
as  well  as  to  all  missions  in  China.  The  buildings  in  Peking,  Dung-ding- 
ang  and  Kalgan  were  destroyed  by  the  Boxers.  The  valuable  library, 
established  by  the  Archimandrite  Peter  and  filled  with  the  rarest  articles 
on  Buddhism,  written  by  Father  Pallady,  was  burned.  More  than  two 
hundred  communicants  were  killed  by  the  Boxers.  And  when  there 
seemed  to  be  no  hope  of  restoration,  a  blessing  was  sent  from  Heaven 
in  the  form  of  a  newly-established  mission.  In  1900  a  church  in  Russian 
style  and  a  school  were  built  in  Shanghai.  The  following  year  Archi- 
mandrite Innocent  was  called  to  Petrograd.  While  there  he  made  a 
report  to  the  holy  Synod  on  the  mission  in  China,  and  received  the 
support  of  the  Metropolitan  Anthony.  As  a  result  the  mission  and  its 
right  were  restored  and  Archimandrite  Innocent  (Figourovsky)  returned 
as  Bishop  of  Peking.  Thus  the  mission  received  the  rights  of  canon  and 
from  this  time  on  we  have  the  third  period  in  its  history. 

"Bishop  Innocent  returned  to  Peking  in  August  1902  accompanied  by 
an  assembly  of  ecclesiastical  persons.  His  jurisdiction  extended  over  all 
the  churches  built  along  the  Chinese-Eastern  railway  (a  distance  of 
about  3,000  miles).  In  reality  all  Chinese  territory  was  under  his  control, 


RELIGIOUS  WORK  377 

for  at  that  time  the  Russians  were  not  only  in  Manchuria  but  in  Mongolia 
also.  The  territory  to  be  covered  was  large,  the  work  great,  and  in 
Peking,  where  the  mission  was  all  in  ruins,  the  work  was  urgent.  How- 
ever, with  money  paid  over  by  the  Chinese  government  for  damages 
caused  during  the  Boxer  Uprising,  the  work  of  restoring  the  mission 
in  Peking  was  soon  well  under  way. 

"Since  1900  it  has  seemed  that  the  special  blessing  of  God  is  upon 
the  work  of  the  mission.  Places  for  preaching  have  been  opened  through 
nearly  all  China.  .  .  .  The  Russo-Japanese  war  hindered  missionary  work 
in  the  interior  of  China,  but  it  stimulated  the  work  of  the  mission  in 
Peking. 

"At  the  present  time  the  Russian  Orthodox  Mission  in  China  is 
composed  of  the  following  establishments :  Monastery  of  the  Assump- 
tion in  Peking;  Hermitage  of  the  Exaltation  of  the  Holy  Cross  on  the 
Western  Hills  near  Peking;  Nunnery  in  Peking;  five  conventual  churches 
in  Petrograd,  Moscow,  Harbin,  Dalny  and  in  Manchuria  which  support 
the  mission  in  China;  nineteen  churches,  four  of  them  in  Peking,  one  in 
the  suburbs  of  Petrograd  and  the  rest  in  the  conventual  and  missionary 
districts.  The  total  number  of  mission  churches  is  thirty-two.  Of  these, 
fourteen  are  in  the  province  of  Chihli,  twelve  in  Hupeh,  four  in  Honan, 
one  in  Tsian-fu,  Shensi,  and  one  in  Mongolia.  The  mission  supports  three 
chapels  and  five  church-yards.  It  is  in  possession  of  forty-six  pieces  of 
property.  There  are  seventeen  schools  for  boys  and  three  for  girls  under 
the  control  of  the  mission,  also  one  Theological  Seminary  in  Peking. 
Other  establishments  maintained  by  the  mission  are:  meteorological  sta- 
tion, library  (recently  built),  printing  office  (with  more  than  a  hundred 
volumes  of  Chinese  publications),  lithographic  works,  galvanoplastical 
establishment,  type  foundry,  book  binding  shop,  paint  shop,  carpenter 
shop,  casting  foundry,  steam  flour  mill,  candle  factory,  soap  factory, 
weaver's  workshop,  bee-farm,  dairy  house  and  brick-kiln. 

"The  mission  has  thirty-three  male  teachers  in  its  schools,  four  of 
whom  are  Russian,  and  five  lady  teachers,  one  of  whom  is  Russian.  The 
total  enrollment  of  boys  and  girls  exceeds  680.  During  1915,  583  Chinese 
were  baptized.  The  total  number  of  baptized  Chinese  is  5,587." 

The  present  activities  of  the  Russian  Orthodox  Mission  of 
the  Greek  Church  are  summarized  as  follows : 

Churches:  7,  3  of  these  are  outside  the  Mission  Compound,  two  in 
Western  Hills  and  one  in  the  Russian  Cemetery. 

Schools:  7,  3  boarding  schools  for  boys,  one  boarding  school  for  girls 
and  one  seminary.  These  are  partly  closed  through  lack  of 
funds  and  the  pupils  are  employed  in  industrial  work. 

Industrial  Department  Persons  Employed 

Printing    30      Library  (a  foreigner) I 

Type  foundry 6      Gardening    5 

{Stereotyping    2      Flour  mill   IO 

Bookbinding    30      Blacksmith  shop 3 

Soap   factory    3      Locksmith  shop  12 

Candle   factory    3      Smelting  house   3 

Dairy  farm  10  — — - 

(i  foreign  superintendent)  Total  118 


378  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

PROTESTANT    MISSIONS 

Protestant  mission  work  began  in  Peking  in  1861,  the  year! 
after  the  Peking  Convention  gave  foreigners  permission  to  live 
in  the  city,  the  London  Missionary  Society  being  the  first  to 
enter  the  field.  Representatives  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America 
(Presbyterian  North)  and  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  (Church  of  England  Mission)  ar- 
rived two  years  later  (1863).  The  first  missionaries  of  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  came 
to  the  city  in  1864,  and  those  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  (North)  in  1869.  The 
Women's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  entered  the  field  in  1871.  These  six  are  the  largest  and 
most  influential  missions  in  Peking.  The  United  Methodist 
Church  (English)  began  work  in  Peking  in  1878,  but  at  present 
has  only  one  representative  in  the  city,  a  man  teaching  in  the 
Theological  Seminary.  The  Mission  for  the  Chinese  Blind  started 
its  work  in  1879. 

As  the  new  and  larger  possibilities  of  mission  work  have 
developed,  particularly  since  1900,  other  missionary  societies  have 
entered  Peking;  representatives  of  the  General  Councils  of  the 
Assemblies  of  God  began  work  in  1914,  and  the  Seventh  Day 
Adventist  Mission  was  opened  in  1918.  The  Salvation  Army 
(English)  started  in  1916,  but  is  already  well  established  and  has 
been  very  successful  in  reaching  a  class  of  people  not  ordinarily 
touched  by  the  other  missions. ..-.  The  Peking  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  was  organized  in  1906,  the  International  Reform 
Bureau  in  1910,  and  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  in 
1916.)  The  American  Bible  Society,  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible'  Society,  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  (English  Baptist 
Mission)  also  have  their  representatives  in  the  city,  and  there 
are  two  missionaries  who  are  not  connected  with  any  mission 
board.  Altogether,  there  are  188*  foreign  missionaries  in  Peking, 
64  men  and  124  women,  and  working  with  them  are  346  Chinese, 
249  men  and  97  women. 

Evangelism  is,  of  course,  the  fundamental  work  of  the  mis- 
sions. Churches  and  chapels  have  been  established  in  various 
centers,  until  now  there  are  22  places  of  worship  in  the  city 
and  there  are  also  three  chapels  that  really  belong  to  the  Peking 
work,  though  they  are  outside  the  city  walls.  The  program  of 
these  churches  and  chapels  includes  the  regular  Sunday  anrl 
week  day  services,  Christian  Endeavor  and  Epworth  League 
meetings,  Sunday  School  work  and  special  evangelistic  cam- 
paigns. Many  of  the  chapels  are  also  used  for  lectures  and 


MISSIONARY  WORK 


-  Normal  School 

-  Bible  Training  School 

-  Bible  Women's  Training  Sdiod) 
»  Compound- 

-  Chapel 

-  American  Bible  Society 

-  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 

-  Catholic  Seminary 

-  Dispensary 

-  Catholic  Press 

-  Hospital 

-  Women's  Hospital 

<   -  Chinese  Independent  Church 

J  -  Kindergarten  Training  School 

c*  -  English  Methodist 

c,  -  Independent 

c*  Seventh  Day  Adventist 


MISSIONARY  WORtf 

•  -  Kindergarten 
v  -  language  School 
M  ,  Middle  School 
O-  Girls'  Middle  School 
b  -  Nurses'  Training  School 
<J  -  Nurses'  Training  School  (Female) 
o  -  Orphanage 
t  -  Old  Men's  Nome 
.  P  -  Primary  School 
a  -  Girls'  Primary  School 
Q  -  Catholic  Convent 
«  -  International  Reform  Bureau 
s  -  Salvation  Army 

T  -  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Onion 
u  -  Peking  University 
c4-  Assemblies  of  God 
c,-  English  Baptist 

Figure  38 
379 


®  -  North  China  Union  Women's  CoUegt 

v  «•  Commercial  School 

w  -  Medical  College 

e  -  Women's  Medical  College 

I  -  Catholic  College 

v  -  Blind  School 

z  -  Union  Church 

\-  Church 

i-  Catholic"  Church 

57-  Y.M.C.A. 

O  -  Y.W.  (LA. 

x  -  Theological  Seminary  (Catholic) 

f  ,  Catholic  Chapel 

^-  Russian  Greek  Church 

O-  Theological  Seminary  (PtotestanQ. 

V-  Student  Y.M.C.A. 

m    Student  YJMLCJl 


380  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

activities  connected  with  the  welfare  of  the  surrounding  com- 
munity. The  membership  of  the  mission  churches  and  chapels 
is  approximately  4,000.  Some  700  new  members  were  added 
during  1918,  while  about  1,000  were  taken  in  on  probation.1  The 
figures  cannot  be  exact  as  the  membership  report  of  one  mission 
is  lacking,  while  two  have  given  figures  for  the  Peking  district 
rather  than  for  the  city. 

Three  independent  Chinese  churches  were  established  in  1915. 
These  have  no  direct  connection  with  any  of  the  missions,  but  are 
all  the  result  of  mission  effort.  The  congregations  have  become 
self-supporting  and  have  developed  their  own  organization.  Al- 
though organically  independent,  the  three  churches  are  connected 
by  a  loose  federation.  The  largest  one — that  on  Hatamen  Street 
in  the  East  City — has  just  recently  completed  a  fine  large  church 
building.  The  three  churches  report  a  membership  of  783  with 
120  on  probation.  During  1918,  51  new  members  were  added. 

According  to  the  church  and  mission  figures,  the  total  num- 
ber of  Christians  in  Peking  is  approximately  5,000,  while  the 
police  census  gives  the  number  as  5,440.  It  would  not  be  fair  to 
call  this  the  result  of  60  years  of  mission  work,  as  Christianity 
was  given  a  severe  setback  in  1900,  when  the  Boxers  hunted  out 
and  killed  those  who  had  had  any  connection  with  the  "Foreign 
Devil"  and  his  ways.  Hundreds  of  native  Christians,  including 
several  Chinese  pastors,  were  killed,  buildings  were  destroyed  and 
practically  a  new  start  had  to  be  made. 

Because  of  its  location  near  the  Legation  Quarter,  the  Metho- 
dist Church  was  able  to  save  most  of  its  adherents.  They  first 
gathered  in  the  mission  compound,  but,  before  the  attack  of  the 
Boxers,  moved  to  the  Legation  Quarter  and  there  rendered  large 
service  during  the  siege.  This  group  and  a  large  staff  of  mission- 
aries (more  than  twice  as  many  as  any  other  mission  if  the  men's 
and  women's  boards  are  counted  together)  working  with  an 
aggressive  well-organized  evangelistic  policy,  has  given  the 
Methodists  by  far  the  largest  enrollment  of  any  of  the  Peking 
churches. 

Since  the  Revolution  of  1911,  the  evangelistic  program  of 
the  churches  has  been  able  to  reach  many  classes  that  previously 
were  inaccessible,  particularly  the  students,  literati  and  officials. 
This  naturally  has  brought  about  a  distinct  change  in  the  mission 
work  and  program ;  a  change  that  the  newcomer  finds  hard  to 
realize  until  he  talks  with  the  older  missionaries,  some  of  whom, 
Dr.  Chauncey  Goodrich,  Dr.  H.  H.  Lowry,  Mrs.  Eleanor e 
Sheffield,  Miss  M.  E.  Andrews,  have  been  in  Peking  for  more 
than  50  years.  No  attempt  has  been  made  in  this  study  to  trace 
the  history  of  those  changes  or  to  go  into  detail  concerning 

1  See  Appendix,  for  detailed  figures  for  each  mission. 


RELIGIOUS  WORK  381 

present  missionary  methods.  They  are  well  set  forth  in  the  vari- 
ous mission  reports.  We  have  endeavored  to  give  only  a  general 
outline  of  the  work,  and  to  show  by  means  of  statistics  its  extent. 

EDUCATION 

In  order  to  educate  their  membership  and  develop  a  strong 
well-trained  native  leadership  for  the  church  and  for  the  coun- 
try, the  missions  have  found  it  necessary  to  start  and  develop  a 
complete  system  of  schools.  Peking  is  a  center  of  mission  as 
well  as  government  education  and  there  are  95  mission  schools 
in  the  city  including  a  university  for  men  and  women,  with 
theological  and  arts  departments,  a  medical  school  for  women, 
nurses  and  Bible  training  schools  for  men  and  women,  a  co- 
educational normal  school,  a  kindergarten  training  school,  a 
School  of  Commerce  and  Finance,  boys'  and  girls'  middle  schools, 
primary  schools,  many  of  which  are  co-educational,  and  kinder- 
gartens. The  32  middle  and  higher  grade  schools  have  an 
enrollment  of  2,471,  of  which  1,818  (73  percent)  are  men  and  653 
women,  while  in  all  the  95  schools  there  are  5,648  pupils,  3,610 
(64  percent)  boys  and  2,038  girls.  The  Chinese  independent 
churches  have  7  schools  with  259  pupils,  making  the  total  number 
in  Protestant  schools  5,827.1  Seventy-six  (40  percent)  of  the  188 
missionaries  and  some  200  (58  percent)  of  the  Chinese  workers 
are  engaged  primarily  in  educational  work. 

PEKING    UNIVERSITY 

The  present  Peking  University,  as  developed  since  1915,  rep- 
resents the  union  of  the  four  Christian  institutions  of  higher 
learning  in  and  near  Peking :  the  old  Peking  University,  a  Metho- 
dist school  founded  in  1888,  as  the  climax  of  work  started  in 
1870;  the  North  China  Union  College,  originally  established  by 
the  American  Board  (Congregational)  Mission  in  1889,  the  out- 
growth of  a  boarding  school  opened  in  1867,  but  a  union  institu- 
tion since  1900 — the  American  Presbyterian  and  London  Missions 
joining  in  the  rebuilding  of  the  plant  destroyed  during  the  Boxer 
disturbances ;  the  North  China  Union  Theological  School  con- 
nected with  the  North  China  Union  College,  and  the  North  China 
Union  Women's  College,  the  first  college  for  women  in  China, 
opened  in  1905,  and  granting  in  1909  the  first  full  college  diploma 
ever  given  to  a  Chinese  woman  in  her  own  land.  The  women's 
department  of  the  University  is  now  known  as  Yen  Ching  Col- 
lege, Yen  Ching  being  the  ancient  name  of  Peking. 

1  For  detailed  figures  of  higher  schools,  see  key  to  map  No.  14,  page  134.  For 
lower  schools,  see  Appendix,  page  515. 


382  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

Prior  to  the  time  of  the  union,  each  of  the  four  schools  had 
an  honored  history  and  many  of  their  graduates  are  filling  posi- 
tions of  prominence  and  usefulness  in  China  and  in  the  Chinese 
Church.  The  following  table  indicates  the  breadth  of  influence 
and  service  of  their  alumni: 

GRADUATES  OF  PEKING  UNIVERSITY 

Teachers     133      Interpreters 2 

Pastors  and  Evangelists 71      Secretaries  of  Institutions 2 

Physicians    37      Engineers     I 

Y.  M.  C.  A.  Secretaries 36      Farmers    I 

Government  Service 19     Mining    I 

Railroads    5  Miscellaneous   32 

Customs    4  Studying   41 

Salt  Gabelle 3  Abroad    23 

Dept.  of   Communications    2  In  China: 

Post  Office 2  Theology    15 

Private  Secretaries 2  Medicine    I 

Navy  Department  I  Other  professions  ....      2 

Business  Men  18      Deceased  44 

Editors    2     Unknown   9 

Total   449 

The  present  departments  of  the  University  and  the  enroll- 
ment in  each  are  given  in  the  following  table,  the  student  body 
containing  representatives  from  every  province  in  China: 

DEPARTMENTS  AND  ATTENDANCE 

Administrative  Officers   8 

Professors  and  Instructors: 

Men's  College  31 

Women's  College  19 

School  of  Theology 6 

~64 
College  of  Arts  and  Sciences  for  Men: 

Senior  College,  Regular  Course m 

Business  Course   34 

College  of  Arts  and  Sciences  for  Women: 

Senior  College,  Regular   Course    : 14 

Junior  College   m 

School  of  Theology  21 

Total  Attendance  1920-1921   291 

In  the  fall  of  1921,  it  is  planned  to  open  a  Men's  Junior  Col- 
lege with  50  students  and  departments  of  Animal  Husbandry  and 
Industrial  Arts  with  25  students  each,  the  enrollment  being 
limited  because  of  the  size  of  the  buildings  now  occupied  by  the 
University.  It  is  hoped  that  the  limitation  may  soon  be  removed, 
for  a  beautiful  new  site  of  100  acres  has  been  secured 


I 


YELLOW   LAMA    PRIEST. 

The  gorgeous  yellow  silk  robes  of  the  priests  and  the  bright  colors  of  the 
embroidered  costumes  of  the  dancers  of  the  Lama  Temple's  annual  Devil 
Dance  give  some  idea  of  the  glory  of  the  old  Imperial  Court. 


THE  TEMPLE  COURT — QUIET   SAVE  FOR  THE  TINKLE  OF  THE  WIND   BELL. 

With  big  trees,   often   hundreds  of  years   old,  bronze  tablets   and  quiet   buildings 
the  temple   courtyards  are   among  the   beauty   spots  of   China. 


RELIGIOUS  WORK  383 

on  the  road  leading  from  Hsi  Chih  Men  (the  northwest  gate  of 
the  city)  to  the  Summer  Palace,  and  plans  have  been  completed 
for  the  erection  of  a  well  coordinated  group  of  university  build- 
ings. Construction  will  probably  be  started  in  the  spring  of  1922. 
The  fact  that  the  University  is  a  mission  institution  seems  to 
make  but  little  difference  in  its  relationships  with  the  many 
government  schools  and  colleges  in  the  city,  for  they  recognize 
that  the  Christian  University  is  working  for  the  uplift  and  prog- 
ress of  China,  its  constant  aim  being  to  furnish  the  highest  pos- 
sible quality  of  intellectual  and  religious  leadership  for  China. 

THE    NORTH    CHINA    UNION    LANGUAGE   SCHOOL 

The  North  China  Union  Language  School,  founded  in  1910 
by  Dr.  W.  H.  Rees  of  the  London  Mission,  is  a  vital  part  of  the 
educational  program  of  the  mission  boards,  although  all  of  its 
students  are  foreigners,  for  it  is  teaching  missionaries,  diplomats 
and  business  men  the  Chinese  language,  and  so  fitting  them  for 
their  work  in  China.  In  nine  years,  the  enrollment  has  grown  to 
226  and  includes  representatives  of  26  missionary  societies,  12 
business  houses  and  5  legations. 

As  the  students  spend  only  half  their  time  in  classroom  work 
and  the  other  half  with  individual  teachers,  the  size  of  the  faculty 
depends  on  the  enrollment.  At  present  there  are  60  Chinese 
teachers,  five  of  whom  are  women,  and,  in  addition,  some  20  of 
the  senior  Peking  missionaries  are  giving  a  few  hours  a  week 
to  lecturing  and  teaching  in  the  school,  so  that  the  newcomers 
may  have  the  benefit  of  their  long  study  and  experience  in  China. 
While  the  students  are  learning  the  Chinese  language,  they  are 
also  getting  a  knowledge  of  Chinese  life,  thought  and  customs 
that  will  be  an  invaluable  background  for  their  future  work. 

Students  taking  the  full  time  course  ordinarily  spend  one  year 
in  residence  and  then  continue  their  study  in  their  mission  station 
or  place  of  business.  The  complete  course  is  equivalent  to  three 
years  of  full  time  work  though  it  usually  covers  five  years,  the 
amount  of  time  spent  on  study  being  decreased  as  other  demands 
increase.  It  is  planned  to  give  those  who  complete  the  course  the 
degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  as  most  of  the  students  are  college 
graduates.  Short  time  courses,  in  which  the  students  usually 
spend  one  hour  a  day  with  a  personal  teacher  and  have  two  class 
meetings  a  week,  are  arranged  for  those  who  are  unable  to  give 
their  entire  time  to  language  study. 

The  management  of  the  school  is  in  the  hands  of  a  board  of 
director!:  representing  the  following  twelve  organizations : 
American  Board  Mission. 
American  Methodist  Mission. 


384.  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

American  Presbyterian  Mission. 
Church  of  England  Mission. 
London  Missionary  Society. 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association. 
American  Legation. 
American  Association  of  North  China. 
British  Chamber  of  Commerce. 
British  Legation. 
China  Medical  Board. 

The  detailed  administration  is  carried  by  Mr.  W.  B.  Pettus, 
a  secretary  of  the  International  Committee  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  assisted  by  a  representative  of  the  Stewart 
Evangelistic  Fund. 

MEDICAL   WORK 

The  medical  part  of  the  missionary  program  in  Peking  in- 
cludes three  hospitals :  one  for  men  and  two  for  women.  One 
of  these,  the  Douw  Memorial  Hospital  for  Women,  is  part  of  the 
Presbyterian  work,  while  the  other  two  are  under  the  Methodist 
Boards.  Of  the  Sleeper  Davis  Memorial  Hospital  (the  Methodist 
Women's  Hospital)  the  report  of  the  China  Medical  Board  says, 
"At  the  present  time,  this  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  best  con- 
ducted hospitals  in  China."  The  staff  of  the  men's  hospital 
includes  a  dentist  and  optometrist,  besides  three  doctors.  The 
three  hospitals  have  a  total  of  165  beds  and  are  caring  for  over 
2,000  in-patients  a  year.  Dispensary  work  is  carried  on  by  the 
three  hospitals  and  also  by  the  London  and  Anglican  Missions. 
The  eight  mission  dispensaries  are  treating  365  patients  a  day, 
on  the  average,  200  men  and  165  women.1  Twenty-five  (13 
percent)  of  the  missionaries  and  32  (9  percent)  of  the  Chinese 
mission  workers  are  giving  their  time  to  medical  work. 

Training  schools  for  nurses  are  conducted  in  connection  with 
both  of  the  Methodist  hospitals,  the  one  for  men  with  20  students 
being  under  the  Methodist  Board,  while  the  one  for  women  with 
25  students  is  a  union  school.  The  North  China  Women's  Union 
Medical  College  is  connected  with  the  Methodist  Women's  Hos- 
pital, but  as  its  name  implies  is  a  union  school.  It  has  some  35 
students  and  in  1919  graduated  18  doctors. 

THE   UNION    MEDICAL    COLLEGE 

Medical  education  for  men  is  given  by  the  Union  Medical 
College.  This  school  was  founded  in  1906,  and  up  until  1915 

1  See  Appendix,  page  516,  for  complete  figures. 


RELIGIOUS  WORK  385 

was  maintained  through  the  cooperation  of  the  Medical  Mission- 
ary Association  of  London,  the  American  Board,  Presbyterian, 
London,  Methodist  and  Anglican  'Missions.  In  July  of  that  year 
it  was  taken  over  by  the  China  Medical  Board  of  the  Rockefeller 
Foundation,  the  Board  being  composed  of  'seven  representatives 
of  the  Foundation  and  one  from  each  of  the  six  mission  boards. 
Since  1915,  the  Board  has  built  and  equipped  a  new  medical 
school,  a  25o-bed  hospital,  nurses'  homes,  student  dormitories, 
faculty  residences,  the  total  representing  an  investment  o£  some 
$7,000,000  gold.  The  buildings  of  the  medical  school  and  hos- 
pital are  a  combination  of  Chinese  and  American  architecture 
and  with  their  high,  curving,  green-tiled  roofs  are  one  of  the  land- 
marks of  Peking.  The  Chinese  call  the  hospital  compound  "The 
Green  Tiled  City." 

The  new  medical  school  was  opened  in  the  fall  of  1919,  with 
seven  undergraduate  and  19  graduate  students.  By  the  end 
of  December,  there  were  36  on  the  faculty  including  n 
Chinese,  it  being  the  policy  of  the  Board  to  put  foreigners  and 
Chinese  on  the  same  basis  as  far  as  their  ability  is  equal.  In  the 
hospital,  the  general  surgical  service  has  been  entirely  in  the 
hands  of  the  Chinese  doctors  and  they  have  won  the  confidence 
of  their  associates  and  of  the  foreigners  who  come  to  the  hospital. 
Instruction  in  the  school  is  carried  on  entirely  in  English  except 
for  special  Chinese  courses.  The  school  is  open  to  women,  though 
so  far  none  have  applied  for  admission. 

A  pre-medical  school  is  also  maintained  by  the  Board.  By 
the  end  of  1919,  there  were  10  persons  on  the  faculty,  three  of 
whom  were  Chinese.  The  enrollment  of  the  school  was  34,  two 
of  the  students  being  women. 

It  is  the  hope  of  the  Board  to  train  women  for  all  the  nursing 
work  in  the  hospital,  though  this  is  a  distinct  departure  from  the 
usual  Chinese  custom.  Until  it  proves  practical  to  have  women 
nurses  in  the  men's  hospital,  the  training  of  male  nurses  will,  of 
necessity,  be  continued.  The  training  school  for  women  is  soon 
to  be  opened.  Already  a  superintendent  of  nurses  and  17 
instructors  and  departmental  supervisors  are  in  Peking. 

The  China  Medical  Board  has  done  much  for  medical  work 
and  education  in  China,  through  the  help  it  has  given  the  existing 
schools  and  hospitals.  With  the  opening  of  its  Peking  hospital 
and  the  further  development  of  the  Union  Medical  College,  the 
Board  will  give  the  Chinese  the  opportunity  of  securing  a  medical 
education  comparable  with  the  best  provided  by  schools  in  the 
United  States,  will  make  possible  research  work  on  the  prob- 
lems peculiar  to  the  Far  East  and  will  be  a  tremendous  factor 
in  the  spread  of  the  knowledge  of  modern  medicine  and  public 
health. 


386  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

UNION   WORK 

The  development  of  union  work  and  union  institutions  has 
been  one  of  the  outstanding  features  of  the  mission  program  in 
Peking.  The  districts  shown  on  the  map  are  those  that  have 
been  informally  adopted  by  the  larger  mission  boards  so  that 
each  church  may  have  its  own  district  and  there  may  be  no  over- 
lapping or  duplicating  of  effort. 

In  the  educational  field,  the  tendency  toward  union  is  most 
marked.  The  mission  schools  must  meet  the  competition  of  the 
government  schools,  and  only  by  a  pooling  of  resources,  both  men 
and  money,  is  it  possible  for  the  mission  boards  to  develop  insti- 
tutions, particularly  those  of  higher  grade,  that  are  efficient  and 
up  to  the  standard.  The  Peking  University  is  the  outstanding 
example  of  union,  for  it  is  formed  by  the  amalgamation  of  four 
previously  existing  schools.  The  North  China  Women's  Union 
Medical  College,  the  Nurses  Training  School  for  Women,  the 
Bible  Training  Schools  for  Men  and  Women,  the  Normal  School, 
the  Kindergarten  Training  School  and  the  North  China  Union 
Language  School  are  all  union  institutions,  with  from  two  to 
seven  missions  uniting  in  their  staffing,  support  and  management. 

PEKING    STUDENT    WORK    UNION 

The  first  permanent  union  in  evangelistic  work  in  Peking  was 
effected  in  1918  by  the  formation  of  the  Peking  Student  Work 
Union.  In  1907  work  of  a  social  and  religious  nature  for  the 
students  of  Peking  was  started  by  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association.  Student  Christian  Associations  were  organized  in 
some  six  or  seven  mission  colleges  and  middle  schools  and  a 
student  movement  was  launched  with  summer  conferences  and 
training  conferences  for  leaders.  At  the  1910  conference,  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  the  Christian  Ministry  in  China 
was  organized.  When  the  work  began,  there  were  only  some 
6,000  students  of  higher  grade  in  Peking,  and  the  approach  to 
those  in  the  government  schools  was  difficult,  for  they  were  the 
descendants  of  the  literati,  the  most  conservative  class  in  China. 
The  rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  students  in  Peking,  the 
growing  interest  in  intercollegiate  athletics,  the  changing  political 
conditions,  the  campaigns  of  Dr.  Mott  in  1913  and  Dr. 
Eddy  in  1914  and  1918,  and  the  steady  work  of  the  missionaries 
and  of  the  secretaries  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
have  gradually  changed  the  situation,  until  now  the  entire  student 
field  is  open.  The  problem  is  much  too  large  for  any  one  agency 
to  meet,  so  in  September,  1918,  through  the  initiative  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  six  large  churches, 


RELIGIOUS  WORK  387 

Anglican,  American  Board,  London  Mission,  Methodist,  Presby- 
terian and  Chinese  Independent  and  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  organized  the  Peking  Student  Work  Union  and 
pooled  their  men  and  resources  for  the  development  of  a  city- 
wide  student  program.  During  1918-1919,  the  work  was  directed 
by  a  board  of  nine  men,  Chinese  and  foreign,  representing  the 
churches,  and  was  carried  on  by  a  staff  of  13  church  and  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  men.  During  1919-1920,  the  board 
of  directors  was  enlarged  and  now  includes  representatives  of  the 
churches,  The  Young  Men's  and  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Associations,  the  Christian  students  of  the  city  and  several  repre- 
sentatives at  large.  The  staff  has  been  enlarged  to  17,  five  for- 
eigners and  12  Chinese,  and  work  is  being  carried  on  in  12 
centers.  By  means  of  lectures  and  socials,  healthful  recreation  is 
provided  to  offset  the  temptations  of  the  life  of  the  capital.  Only 
23  of  the  54  higher  schools  have  dormitories.  The  majority  of 
the  students  are  living  in  small  hotels  or  wherever  they  can  find 
rooms,  and  only  too  often  they  are  surrounded  by  evil  influences. 
In  some  centers,  athletics  and  other  games  are  provided  on  Satur- 
day afternoons.  Religious  lectures,  discussion  groups  and  Bible 
classes  are  carried  on  in  various  centers  with  an  average  weekly 
attendance  of  over  800.  The  Christian  work  for  women  as  well 
as  men  students  is  under  the  direction  of  the  Union  Board. 

The  salaries  of  the  workers,  with  the  exception  of  one  office 
secretary,  are  paid  by  the  various  bodies  belonging  to  the  Union, 
but  the  expenses  connected  with  the  carrying  out  of  the  city-wide 
program  are  paid  from  a  common  treasury,  the  funds  being  con- 
tributed by  the  different  missions  or  raised  by  a  united  financial 
campaign.  In  1919,  over  $1,200  was  raised  by  a  city-wide  cam- 
paign. 

PEKING  BRANCH   OF  THE   CHINA-FOR-CHRIST    MOVEMENT 

The  most  recent  development  of  cooperative  effort  is  the  for- 
mation of  the  Peking  Branch  of  the  China-for-Christ  Movement. 
The  six  larger  Protestant  communions  have  organized  a  central 
committee  of  100,  on  which  are  representatives  of  all  the  organ- 
ized Protestant  churches,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  and  certain  coopted 
members.  This  large  committee  has  elected  an  executive  com- 
mittee of  15,  has  appointed  sub-committees  on 

Evangelism  Devotional  Life 

Home  Missions  Literature 

Social  Service  Systematic  Giving, 
Training  of  Leaders 


388  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

has  secured  a  permanent  full  time  Chinese  secretary,  and  is 
assisted  by  several  foreign  and  Chinese  secretaries  giving  part 
time. 

THE   AMERICAN    BIBLE    SOCIETY 

Peking  is  one  of  the  principal  distributing  centers  of  the 
American  Bible  Society,  as  it  is  headquarters  for  the  provinces 
of  Chihli,  Shansi  and  Shantung.  Formerly,  the  Bibles  were  sold 
by  paid  colporteurs,  but  they  are  now  being  distributed  by  some 
140  volunteers,  23  of  whom  are  working  in  and  around  Peking. 
The  paid  staff  consists  of  one  foreigner  and  three  Chinese.  The 
sales  of  Bibles,  Gospels,  Testaments  and  portions  of  Scripture 
in  Chihli  Province  alone  totaled  602,201  in  1918,  while  over 
1,000,000  portions  were  sold  in  the  North  China  District.  In 
all  of  China  the  annual  sales  of  the  Society  are  approximately 
2,225,000  portions. 

THE   BRITISH    AND    FOREIGN    BIBLE   SOCIETY 

The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  conducts  a  small  sta- 
tion in  connection  with  the  Peking  work  of  the  London  Mission, 
one  of  the  representatives  of  that  mission  giving  part  of  his 
time  to  the  work,  but  the  sales  in  Peking  and  vicinity  are  re- 
ported as  being  very  small. 

THE    HILL-MURRAY    MISSION    TO   THE   CHINESE   BLIND 

Deeply  impressed  by  the  terrible  condition  of  the  blind  in 
China,  Rev.  W.  H.  Murray,  who  reached  Peking  in  1871,  opened 
a  school  for  them  a  few  years  later.  In  1879,  the  Kill-Murray 
Mission  to  the  Chinese  Blind  was  founded,  and  since  then  has 
been  responsible  for  the  support  of  the  school.  Mr.  Murray 
worked  out  a  Braille  system  for  the  Chinese  language  and 
through  his  school  has  not  only  taught  a  great  many  blind  to 
read  but  has  also  trained  a  large  number  of  Christian  workers. 

In  1916,  the  school  had  three  foreign  teachers  and  38  pupils, 
but  in  1919  Mrs.  Murray,  who  had  carried  on  the  work  for 
several  years  after  the  death  of  her  husband,  had  to  give  it  up 
and  the  school  was  closed,  until  a  new  director  can  be  secured. 

THE  WOMEN'S  CHRISTIAN  TEMPERANCE  UNION 

The  Peking  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union  was 
founded  in  1912  by  Mrs.  Chauncey  Goodrich  of  the  American 
Board  Mission  (Congregational).  Branches  have  been  estab- 


RELIGIOUS  WORK  389 

lished  in  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou,  Pel  T'ang  and  Ch'i  Hua  Men  Con- 
gregational Churches,  the  Ku  Lou  Hsi  and  Er  Tiao  Hut'ung* 
Presbyterian  Churches,  the  London  Mission  Chapel  and  the  In- 
dependent Chinese  Church  in  the  South  City.  Young  people's 
societies  have  been  organized  in  the  North  China  Union  Women's 
College  (now  Yen  Ching  College)  and  in  the  Bridgeman 
Academy.  Three  Loyal  Temperance  Leagues  are  also  holding 
regular  monthly  meetings. 

Besides  the  usual  meetings  and  the  distribution  of  literature 
directed  especially  against  the  use  of  narcotics  and  the  growing 
use  of  foreign  wines  and  liquors,  the  Union  has  trained  a  group 
of  women,  most  of  whom  are  students  in  the  Bible  Training 
School,  to  talk  at  the  temple  fairs  every  spring,  lecturing  on 
home-making  and  sanitation  as  well  as  temperance. 

THE   YOUNG    MEN'S  CHRISTIAN   ASSOCIATION 

In  1906,  at  the  invitation  of  the  principal  missions  of  the 
city,  two  representatives  of  the  students  and  alumni  of  Prince- 
ton University,  Mr.  R.  R.  Gailey  and  Mr.  D.  W.  Edwards,  came 
to  Peking  to  organize  the  Chinese  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation. Their  first  headquarters  were  in  an  old  pawn  shop, 
and  the  first  association  work  was  to  establish  an  English  night 
school.  From  that  beginning,  the  work  has  grown  until  now, 
housed  in  a  large  four-story  building — the  gift  of  John  Wana- 
maker'of  Philadelphia — it  includes  the  following: 

1.  Social  and  Educational  Activities  in  the  building — con- 
certs, moving  pictures,  lectures,  pool,  billiards,  bowling,  a  restau- 
rant, reading  room,  library  and  dormitory. 

2.  Physical  Education.     Gymnasium  classes  and  the  stimula- 
tion of  athletics  in  government  and  private  schools  in  the  city. 
The  late  Mr.  A.  N.  Hoagland  of  the  Princeton  Staff  was  largely 
instrumental  in  organizing  in   1912-13  the  first  inter-collegiate 
football,  baseball  and  track  contests  in  Peking.     He  was  also 
the  organizing  secretary  of  the  first  National  Track  Meet  held  in 
1913  on  the  grounds  of  the  Temple  of  Heaven. 

3.  Education.     The     Peking     School     of     Commerce     and 
Finance  with  over  400  students  and  an  English  night  school  for 
200  men  and  boys. 

4.  Evangelism    and    Religious    Education.     In    cooperation 
with  the  churches,  the  Association  has  been  the  pioneer  in  evan- 
gelistic work   for  the   student   and   official   classes.     The   cam- 
paigns of  Dr.  Mott,  Dr.  Eddy  and  Mr.  Buchman  have  induced 
many  thousands  of  students  and  officials  to  study  Christianity  and 
many  have  become  church  members. 

5.  Cooperation  in  the  Union  work  for  college  and  middle 


390  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

school   students,   including  the   supervision   of   the   work  of    n 
organized  Student  Christian  Associations. 

6.  Cooperation  in  the  Community  Service  Movement  (see 
Chapter  XVII). 

7.  Y.M.C.A.  Work  in  the  Chinese  Army.    The  pioneer  work 
in  this  line  was  done  in  1918  by  Mr.  Gailey,  who  started  Associ- 
ation activities  among  the  Chinese  troops  in  Siberia. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  has  been  especially 
successful  in  reaching  men  of  education  and  official  position. 
Last  year,  the  President  of  China  and  all  but  one  of  the  Cabinet 
officers  contributed  to  its  work,  while  the  President  of  the  Associ- 
ation was  a  man  high  up  in  the  Board  of  Foreign  Affairs.  The 
Association  has  altogether  some  2,500  members,  about  250  of 
whom  are  members  of  a  Protestant  church.  As  is  customary  in 
Association  work,  the  activities  are  under  the  control  of  a 
Chinese  board  of  directors  who  are  responsible  for  the  raising 
of  the  budget,  the  expenses  of  the  local  work  being  met  by  money 
raised  in  Peking.  In  1919,  there  were  some  24  Chinese  secre- 
taries on  the  Association  staff,  and  the  budget  called  for  an  ex- 
penditure of  over  $80,000.  The  only  money  that  comes  from 
America  is  for  the  salaries  of  the  seven  permanent  foreign  sec- 
retaries, and  the  expenses  of  the  three  to  five  short  term  men 
who  are  with  the  Peking  Association.  Most  of  these  funds  are 
contributed  by  the  students  and  alumni  of  Princeton  University. 

THE  YOUNG  WOMEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION 

The  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  of  Peking  was 
organized  October  21,  1916,  pre-organization  work  having  been 
carried  on  by  Miss  Theresa  Severin  since  1913.  Its  special  field 
is  work  with  the  modern  students  and  the  wives  and  families 
of  the  officials.  At  present,  its  program  includes: 

1.  Social  Activities  for  Members — Lectures,  concerts,  social 
meetings. 

2.  Educational  Work.     Fifty  students  were  enrolled  in  the 
various  classes  in  1919. 

3.  Community  Service  Work.     A  night  school  for  54  chil- 
dren, with  a  faculty  of  four,  three  of  whom  give  their  services, 
public  health  exhibits,  better-baby  shows,  cooperation  in  the  Teng 
Shih  K'ou  Community  Service  Group  (see  Chapter  XVII). 

4.  Student  Work.     Student  Associations  have  been  organ- 
ized in  the  mission  schools  and  in  two  non-mission  schools.    Club 
work  has  been  started  for  the  younger  girls. 

In  1919,  the  Association  had  421  members,  119  of  whom  be- 
longed to  Protestant  churches.  The  board  of  directors,  responsi- 


RELIGIOUS  WORK  391 


ble  for  the  entire  Association  program,  included  many  women 
who  were  prominent  in  church  work  and  several  whose  husbands 
held  high  official  position.  Four  foreign  and  three  Chinese 
secretaries  were  in  charge  of  the  work.  The  budget  raised  from 
Chinese  sources  for  the  local  work  amounted  to  $4,650  silver, 
the  foreign  secretaries  all  being  supported  from  America. 

PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY    CENTER    IN    CHINA 

The  Princeton  University  Center  in  China  is  a  group  of  six 
permanent  men  and  from  three  to  six  short  term  men,  who  are 
in  Peking  as  the  representatives  of  the  alumni  and  students  of 
Princeton  University.  Most  of  them  are  working  through  the 
Peking  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  short  term  men 
teaching  in  the  Association  School  of  Commerce  and  Finance, 
the  permanent  men  assisting  the  Chinese  Board  of  Directors  in 
developing  the  Association  program,  but  they  do  not  limit  them- 
selves to  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work.  Some  are  cooperating  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  social  service  movement  in  the  city,  and  some  are 
teaching  in  the  Department  of  Sociology  of  the  Peking  (Union) 
University. 

Other  American  colleges  also  have  their  representatives  in 
Peking.  Wellesley  is  interested  in  the  work  of  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  and  Yen  Ching  College.  One  of 
the  foreign  secretaries  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
is  supported  by  the  students  and  alumni  of  the  University  of 
Wisconsin,  while  a  representative  of  the  University  of  Southern 
California  is  teaching  in  the  Peking  (Union)  University. 

CONCLUSIONS 

To  make  any  accurate  estimate  of  the  effect  of  Christianity 
on  the  life  of  Peking  is  manifestly  impossible.  There  are  too 
many  complex  forces  at  work  in  the  city.  No  one  will  deny, 
however,  that  it  has  had  a  tremendous  influence  on  the  city,  es- 
pecially in  the  development  of  the  ideals  of  the  new  China.  One 
has  only  to  look  at  the  faces  of  a  group  of  Christian  women — 
and  many  observers  say  they  can  almost  always  tell  who  are 
Christians  by  their  happy  expressions — to  realize  how  much 
Christianity  has  meant  to  them  personally.  This  change  in  the 
quality  of  the  inner  life  of  individuals — a  real  yet  intangible 
transformation — has,  up  to  the  present,  been  Christianity's  great- 
est contribution  to  China. 

Christianity's  larger  social  and  national  outreach  is,  however, 
becoming  apparent.  Christians  are  in  the  Cabinet,  in  Parliament, 
on  the  Peace  Commission  to  Versailles,  are  admirals  in  the  Chinese 
Navy,  are  high  in  the  Board  of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  on  the  execu- 


392  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

tive  committee  of  the  Peking  Student  Union.  Through  these  men 
the  influence  of  the  idealism  and  altruism  of  the  Christian  outlook 
and  purpose  is  beginning  to  count  in  the  national  life. 

The  effect  of  Christianity  in  introducing  new  social  and  moral 
ideals  is  also  apparent.  The  present  eagerness  for  a  better  govern- 
ment, for  a  higher  place  for  women,  for  a  more  adequate  moral 
code  is  partially  the  result  of  the  Christian  movement  in  China, 
while  the  present  intellectual  awakening  of  China  is  certainly 
indirectly  the  outcome  of  the  many  years  of  persistent  teaching  of 
new  ideas  by  the  missionary  body. 

Perhaps  even  more  significant  than  the  effect  of  Christianity 
on  China  are  the  great  possibilities  of  constructive  service  now 
open  to  the  Christian  movement.  The  eagerness  of  young  China 
to  avail  herself  of  the  tools  from  the  west  which  will  reconstruct 
the  nation  offers  a  unique  opportunity  to  the  Christian  movement. 
China  is  changing  rapidly  from  the  ancient  fixed  social  system 
of  Confucianism  to  a  new  social  order.  It  is  the  opportunity  of 
the  Christian  movement  to  supply  the  moral  basis,  the  social  out- 
look and  the  religious  dynamic  for  this  new  social  order  and  to 
assist  materially  by  demonstrating  the  practical  application  of  such 
ideals  and  motives  in  concrete  terms. 

Religion  in  action  especially  will  arrest  the  attention  and  gain 
the  acceptance  of  vigorous  young  China.  Christianity  can  be 
demonstrated  through  the  home,  the  school,  the  factory,  the  hospi- 
tal permeated  with  the  Christian  spirit.  The  planning  and  organ- 
izing of  a  definite  and  constructive  social  program  for  the  local 
community  around  each  Christian  church  will  also  truly  express 
the  inner  spirit  of  the  Christian  gospel  which  seeks  to  develop  not 
only  the  individual  and  the  church  but  primarily  and  essentially 
to  transform  the  structure  of  society  itself  into  a  new  social 
order — the  Kingdom  of  God. 

Peking  is  the  natural  place  for  especially  intensive  missionary 
effort  and  the  development  of  the  best  ideas  in  the  Christian 
program.  It  is  the  political  and  educational  center  of  China,  and 
what  is  done  there  has  its  influence  not  only  on  the  city,  but  on  the 
entire  country.  Much  of  the  population  is  transient  and  men  com- 
ing from  every  province  take  with  them  the  ideas  of  the  capital. 
The  mission  work  will  have  to  be  of  the  highest  order  and  will 
require  the  investment  of  many  men  and  large  sums  of  money. 
The  program  will  have  to  be  intensive  rather  than  extensive,  for, 
although  the  missionaries  will  have  to  do  some  demonstration  work, 
their  largest  task  is  the  training  of  Chinese  leaders.  Foreigners 
cannot  evangelize  China  any  more  than  they  can  educate  her  or 
cure  her  diseases.  This  work  must  be  done  by  the  Chinese 
themselves,  and  the  most  and  the  best  that  the  foreigner  can  do 
is  to  develop  Chinese  who  will  carry  on  the  work. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
PEKING  COMMUNITY  SERVICE  GROUP 

(AN  OUTGROWTH  OF  THE  SURVEY) 

It  is  not  often  that  it  is  possible  to  tell,  in  a  survey  report,  of 
any  concrete  results  of  the  survey,  but  in  Peking  the  preliminary 
reports  of  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  church  and  district  surveys  aroused 
such  interest  and  showed  such  a  need  for  a  social  program  that 
a  Community  Service  Group  was  organized  even  before  the  field 
work  of  the  survey  itself  was  completed.  In  November,  1919,  a 
group  of  40  Chinese  and  foreign  men  and  women  met  at  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  to  consider  the  problem  of 
a  community  service  program  for  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  District. 
A  majority  of  these  lived  either  in  or  very  near  the  surveyed  dis- 
trict and  most  of  them  were  members  of  the  American  Board 
(Congregational)  Church  located  in  the  southern  part  of  the  dis- 
trict. Among  the  Chinese  were  a  teacher  in  the  Women's  Col- 
lege, a  local  physician,  a  carpenter  and  contractor,  the  owner 
of  a  large  bookstore,  the  wife  of  the  head  of  the  aviation  depart- 
ment of  the  Board  of  War,  the  wife  of  a  returned  student  in  the 
employ  of  the  Siems-Cary  Company,  the  wife  of  a  Chinese  pastor, 
the  local  police  official,  a  doctor  in  the  public  health  department  oi 
the  Union  Medical  College  and  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  a  number 
of  secretaries  of  the  Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Associations  and  a  group  of  college  students,  both  men  and 
women.  The  foreigners  were  Rev.  George  D.  Wilder,  Rev.  R. 
M.  Cross  and  Mrs.  Chauncey  Goodrich  of  the  American  Board 
Mission,  Miss  Alice  Holmes  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association,  and  Mr.  J.  S.  Burgess  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association. 

The  needs  of  the  district,  as  discovered  by  the  survey,  were 
vividly  presented  by  Dr.  Wilder,  and  without  much  discussion 
the  group  decided  to  organize  what  has  since  been  known  as  the 
Fu  Wu  Tuan,  or  Community  Service  Group.  Seven  commissions 
were  appointed  to  deal  with  the  following  problems :  Social  Re- 
lationships, Playgrounds  and  Recreation,  Charity  and  Industrial 
Work,  Moral  Reform,  Night  Schools,  Lectures  and  General  Ex- 
tension Education,  Public  Health.  Later  on  a  Commission 
on  Social  Investigation  was  added.  The  original  budget  of  the 

393 


394  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

group  amounted  to  $600,  contributed  by  the  Young  Men's  and 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  and  the  American  Board 
Church,  but  $700  was  soon  added  to  this  amount  by  the  people  of 
the  community,  even  though  most  of  the  contributors  were  not 
members  of  any  Christian  church.  Headquarters  were  first 
opened  in  an  old  tea  house  located  on  Hatamen  Street,  the  main 
east  street  of  the  district,  and  borrowed  from  the  former  Minister 
of  Finance,  Ts'ao  Ju  Lin,  but  later  were  moved  to  a  two-room 
building  on  Teng  Shih  K'ou  Street. 

The  first  event  was  a  Sunday  evening  meeting  of  the  local 
gentry.  Some  sixty  came  out  and  showed  deep  interest  in  the 
plans  of  the  organization  as  explained  to  them  by  Mr.  Liu  Hsi 
Lien,  the  energetic  Chinese  secretary  of  the  group.  This  meeting 
was  followed  by  a  series  of  Sunday  afternoon  and  evening  lec- 
tures, the  afternoon  meetings  being  for  women  and  the  evening 
meetings  for  men.  For  the  women,  talks  were  given  on  Household 
Sanitation,  the  Necessity  of  Education,  How  to  Bring  Up  the 
Baby,  while  the  Sunday  evening  lectures  for  men  covered  a  large 
range  of  subjects :  the  general  fields  of  Citizenship,  Public  Health 
and  Hygiene,  Moral  Reform,  and  Business  Morality.  It  was 
planned  to  work  up  interest  among  special  groups,  unskilled  labor- 
ers, skilled  laborers,  apprentices,  teachers,  gentry,  wives  of  officials, 
etc.,  but  just  as  a  start  was  being  made  the  headquarters  in  the 
tea  house  had  to  be  given  up  and  during  the  rest  of  the  year  it 
was  impossible  to  find  as  satisfactory  a  place  for  public  lectures. 
Typical  of  what  can  be  done,  however,  was  an  evening  meeting 
to  which  the  head  of  a  large  shop  brought  all  his  apprentices  to 
see  the  pictures  on  public  health.  It  is  evident  that  by  discovering 
the  natural  groupings  of  the  people,  the  merchants  through  the 
gilds,  and  the  gentry  through  the  district  organizations,  it  is  quite 
possible  to  approach  and  appeal  to  all  the  different  classes. 

In  order  further  to  let  the  people  of  the  district  understand 
the  objects  of  this  new  enterprise  which  we  wished  them  to 
consider  as  their  own,  a  large  12x30  inch  calendar  was 
printed.  In  the  center  was  a  photograph  of  the  local  gentry  who 
attended  the  opening  meeting  in  the  tea  house.  Above  this  was 
the  calendar  and  a  brief  description  of  the  proposed  work  of  the 
seven  commissions,  while  at  the  bottom  of  the  page  was  a  list  of 
the  40  charter  members  of  the  group.  When  the  calendars 
were  printed  the  members  were  called  together,  each  two  or 
three  were  given  a  street  or  part  of  a  street  to  cover,  and  within  a 
few  days  the  calendars  were  distributed  by  these  neighborly 
visitors  to  the  homes  and  stores  of  the  more  than  nine  thousand 
people  living  in  the  district.  These  personal  calls — the  men  for 
the  most  part  covering  the  stores  and  the  women  the  homes — 
were  not  only  the  means  of  giving  out  the  information  printed 


PEKING  COMMUNITY  SERVICE  GROUP       395 

on  the  calendars,  but  were  a  demonstration  of  the  friendly 
spirit  of  this  neighborhood  group.  In  the  minds  of  the  Chinese 
the  carrying  of  letters  is  work  that  is  done  only  by  coolies,  and 
for  students,  well-to-do  women  and  local  merchants  to  do  it  must 
have  made  a  deep  impression. 

Poor  relief  was  the  next  enterprise  to  be  taken  up  by  the 
Community  Service  Group.  The  people  who  were  in  need  were 
easily  found  as  the  police  had  listed  the  families  that  they  con- 
sidered "poor*  and  "very  poor,"  and  a  copy  of  this  list  was  given 
the  group  by  the  head  of  the  police  district.  A  study  of  the  46 
poor  families  showed  that  the  "poor"  were  destitute,  while  the 
"very  poor"  were  practically  on  the  verge  of  starvation.  Many 
of  the  latter  families  did  not  have  any  padded  winter  clothes, 
while  some  did  not  even  have  enough  thin  clothes  to  give  every 
member  of  the  family  a  suit.  One  family  with  five  members 
had  only  one  suit  and  their  "home"  was,  of  course,  without  furni- 
ture or  heat. 

In  December  a  poorhouse  for  men  and  an  industrial  work- 
shop for  women  were  organized.  A  rich  broker,  much  more 
familiar  with  ancient  Chinese  philanthropic  methods  than  with 
modern  scientific  relief  (as  we  found  to  our  sorrow),  offered  to 
give  us  $350  to  start  a  poorhouse.  Now,  the  old  Chinese  idea  of 
a  poorhouse  is  a  place  where  those  who  are  obviously  the  most 
destitute  are  herded  together  for  the  winter  months,  kept  fairly 
warm  and  given  enough  millet  gruel  to  keep  them  from  starving ; 
but  it  was  our  aim  to  fit  the  inmates  for  self-support,  if  possible, 
as  well  as  give  them  a  place  to  live  and  something  to  eat.  We  first 
hired  a  superintendent,  the  former  pastor  of  one  of  the  London 
Mission  Churches  whose  large  heart  and  sympathetic  knowledge 
of  human  nature  were  greater  than  his  knowledge  of  how  to  con- 
structively help  the  poor,  but  there  are,  of  course,  no  trained 
Chinese  social  workers  in  China  for  such  positions.  Some  forty 
destitute  men  and  boys  were  admitted,  most  of  them  selected  by  the 
local  police,  though  some  were  chosen,  by  our  rich  philanthropic 
friend,  from  among  the  most  dilapidated  of  the  beggars  on  the 
street.  These  latter  gave  us  the  most  trouble,  for  most  of  them 
were  almost  hopelessly  dependent  and  it  was  difficult  to  awaken  in 
them  a  spark  of  independence  and  self-support.  Every  man  who 
was  admitted  had  to  be  guaranteed  by  some  member  of  the  com- 
munity, but,  as  many  of  the  most  needy  persons  knew  no  one, 
the  secretary  of  the  group  had  to  personally  act  as  guarantor  for 
several.  Each  man  as  he  came  in  was  supplied  with  a  clean 
wooden  board  bed  and  a  new  suit  of  cotton  padded  clothing,  the 
latter  being  presented  to  him  only  after  he  had  been  given  a  bath 
in  the  nearby  public  bath  house. 

Soon  after  the  organization  of  the  poorhouse  the  inmates 


696  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

were  divided  into  three  groups.  The  older  and  more  decrepit 
were  to  take  care  of  the  house  and  to  help  with  the  cleaning, 
another  group  was  to  be  engaged  in  industrial  work — spinning 
cotton  yarn  on  two  newly  purchased  machines,  while  a  third  was 
to  peddle  goods  on  the  street.  Unfortunately,  the  spinning  ma- 
chines were  not  up  to  specifications.  A  merchant  in  Shantung 
had  what  was  considered  to  be  a  great  improvement,  of  a  semi- 
modern  nature,  of  the  old  hand  spinning  machine,  but  too  late  it 
was  discovered  to  have  none  of  the  virtues  of  either  the  ancient 
or  modern  model.  By  working  hard  all  day,  two  men  could 
make  about  10  coppers  apiece,  scarcely  enough  to  pay  for 
their  food.  However,  the  men  were  kept  at  the  machines  during 
the  winter  months,  each  one  thus  making  almost  enough  to  pay 
for  his  food  and  also  learning  a  new  trade.  As  Japanese  goods 
were  being  boycotted  and  there  was  a  demand  for  cotton  yarn, 
had  the  machines  been  good  ones  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  this 
form  of  work  would  have  proved  most  profitable.  During  the 
last  few  months,  Mr.  S.  M.  Dean,  an  American  teacher  in  the 
National  Teachers'  College  and  head  of  its  industrial  department, 
has,  together  with  a  group  of  friends,  tested  out  and  perfected 
the  model  of  a  new,  thoroughly  modern  hand  spinning  machine, 
which  it  is  hoped  will  soon  be  available  for  this  class  of  work. 

The  third  group,  who  were  to  sell  goods  on  the  street,  were 
engaged  in  a  form  of  work  which,  from  the  economic  point  of 
view,  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  much  of  a  contribution  to 
China.  There  are  already  in  Peking  more  peddlers  of  peanuts, 
fire-crackers,  native  candies  and  nuts,  soap,  etc.,  than  the  market 
demands,  but  to  ourselves  we  justified  our  setting  up  these  men 
in  this  line  of  work  by  calling  the  products  "sanitary,"  for  so 
they  were  compared  to  much  of  the  food  sold  on  the  street.  After 
securing  the  necessary  permission  from  the  police,  street  booths 
were  established  in  two  different  parts  of  the  district,  each  of 
which  was  in  charge  of  two  men,  dressed  in  a  neat  gray  cos- 
tume, while  back  of  each  booth  was  hung  a  prominent  sign  tell- 
ing of  the  organization  that  was  sponsor  for  the  new  enterprise. 
From  these  booths  other  men,  clothed  in  gray  and  carrying  white 
glass-covered  boxes  in  which  were  displayed  their  various  wares, 
went  out  in  pairs  day  by  day.  A  few  of  these  peddlers  were 
successful  in  their  work.  One  is  still  peddling  and  has  more  than 
paid  off  the  small  capital  loaned  him.  Most  of  the  men,  how- 
ever, were  unable  to  meet  the  severe  competition  of  the  other 
street  peddlers  and  to  make  enough  to  make  the  enterprise 
worth  while.  We  found  it  practically  impossible  to  buy  things 
for  them  at  a  price  low  enough  to  enable  them  to  compete 
with  the  other  peddlers.  Some  few  knew  where  and  how  to  buy, 
and  we  finally  had  to  let  them  buy  their  own  supplies  whether 


PEKING  COMMUNITY  SERVICE  GROUP        397 

they  were  sanitary  or  not.  In  some  cases  the  men  came  back 
with  a  depleted  stock  of  merchandise  and  no  adequate  financial 
returns.  In  one  case  (unfortunate  for  us)  one  of  the  peddlers 
"got  away"  with  $50  worth  of  clothing,  leaving  his  companion  tc 
wait  for  him  at  the  entrance  of  what  appeared  to  be  a  blind  alley 
but  which  later  turned  out  to  be  an  open  street. 

Our  friend,  the  Chinese  philanthropist,  when  he  heard  that 
we  were  giving  the  inmates  of  the  poorhouse  industrial  work 
and  treating  them  better  than  he  had  desired,  refused  to  pay  up 
the  money  that  he  had  promised,  leaving  us  $250  short  on  our 
budget. 

The  entire  experience  with  the  men  in  the  poorhouse  proved 
that  a  more  thorough  knowledge  of  the  capacity  of  the  poor  peo- 
ple than  is  now  possessed  is  needed  and  that  trained  technical 
supervision  is  required  if  any  efforts  to  help  the  poor  are  to 
produce  real  constructive  accomplishment. 

The  result  of  the  Women's  Industrial  Shop  was  quite  differ- 
ent, owing  to  the  long  experience  of  Mrs.  Chauncey  Goodrich 
of  the  American  Board  Mission.  The  regulations  and  plans  of 
that  enterprise  were  better  adapted  to  the  capacities  of  the  people 
than  those  of  the  Men's  Poorhouse.  The  25  women  admitted 
were  carefully  chosen,  worked  only  by  the  day  and  were  paid 
for  their  work  by  the  piece  rather  than  by  the  day.  The  shop 
secured  a  large  order  for  clothing  for  the  "boys"  at  the  Peking 
Hotel,  and  with  an  experienced  Chinese  woman  to  supervise  the 
work  the  shop  was  able  to  keep  the  women  and  their  families 
from  destitution  at  only  a  small  cost. 

With  the  coming  of  the  warm  weather  in  the  spring,  the 
poorhouse  was  closed  and  the  women's  workshop  was  changed 
into  a  sewing  class  for  girls,  taught  by  the  wife  of  a  prominent 
official,  formerly  the  Chinese  Consul  General  in  Java. 

Two  well-run  night  schools  were  conducted  throughout  the 
year  in  the  primary  school  buildings  of  the  American  Board  Mis- 
sion with  an  enrollment  of  some  fifty  girls  and  seventy  boys. 
With  the  exception  of  two  head  teachers,  who  were  paid  for  part 
time  work,  all  the  teaching  was  done  by  college  men  and  women 
who  gave  their  services.  The  curriculum  was  largely  that  of  the 
ordinary  primary  school.  Though  the  schools  were  free,  it  was 
difficult  to  get  in  touch  with  those  who  were  most  in  need  of 
education.  The  Chinese  have  such  a  high  estimation  of  the 
value  of  study,  or  rather  of  the  value  of  having  a  teacher  pour 
knowledge  into  the  students'  heads,  that  they  are  quite  willing 
to  send  their  boys  and  girls  ta  a  government  school  during  the 
day  and  to  a  free  night  school  in  the  evening.  It  was  practically 
impossible  to  reach  the  apprentices  who  are  not  allowed  out  of 
the  shops  in  the  evenings  even  if  they  are  not  required  to  work, 


398  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

which  is  seldom  the  case.  While  the  schools  were  most  successful 
and  the  students  in  the  day  schools  were  for  the  most  part  kept 
out,  it  is  clear  that  a  greater  confidence  must  be  established  be- 
tween the  Community  Service  Group,  the  gild  leaders  and  the 
shop  owners,  before  it  will  be  possible  to  reach  those  who  are 
most  in  need  of  school  work,  the  apprentices  and  the  working 
classes. 

As  the  warm  weather  came  on,  it  was  decided  to  attempt  to 
educate  the  people  regarding  the  dangers  of  the  fly  and  the  neces- 
sity of  cleanliness  in  the  home.  A  normal  class  of  80  men 
and  women,  most  of  them  students  in  the  Government  University 
and  the  Union  Women's  College,  though  ten  or  more  were  older 
residents  of  the  district,  was  formed  for  training  in  these  subjects, 
and  among  other  work  was  given  a  series  of  lantern  lectures  by 
Dr.  E.  T.  Hsieh  of  the  Union  Medical  College.  Sets  of  pictures 
were  prepared,  ten  to  a  set,  vividly  painted  by  Chinese  artists  on 
large  pieces  of  cloth,  illustrating  "the  danger  of  the  fly"  and  the 
need  for  "household  cleanliness."  The  district  was  divided  into 
1 6  sections,  the  80  voluntary  lecturers  were  then  organized  into 
1 6  teams,  and  to  each  team  was  assigned  a  section,  the  women 
for  the  most  part  taking  the  residence  sections  in  the  center  of  the 
block  and  the  men  the  stores  on  the  main  streets  that  surround  the 
district.  Each  team  was  required  to  do  three  things :  first,  arrange 
the  time  and  place  of  the  lectures  in  their  particular  section; 
second,  deliver  the  two  lectures  as  many  times  as  possible;  and 
third,  follow  up  the  lectures  by  the  distribution  of  literature, 
some  excellent  pamphlets  having  been  prepared  on  these  subjects 
by  the  China  Medical  Missionary  Association.  The  campaign 
lasted  two  weeks.  Over  sixty  lectures  were  held  in  home  court- 
yards, in  stores,  in  a  big  tent  erected  in  the  middle  of  the  district, 
or  even  right  on  the  street,  the  lecturers  in  the  latter  case  standing 
on  tables  and  talking  to  those  who  stopped  to  listen.  Over  eight 
thousand  people  attended  the  lectures,  so  that  allowing  for  dupli- 
cations and  people  from  other  sections  of  the  city  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  at  least  five  thousand  different  people  living  in  our  district, 
or  half  the  population,  gathered  new  information  on  these  impor- 
tant subjects. 

Free  vaccination  clinics  were  held  in  the  two-room  clubhouse 
on  Teng  Shih  K'ou  Street  on  five  Saturday  afternoons  during 
the  spring  and  over  two  hundred  children  were  vaccinated. 
The  doctors  and  nurses  gave  their  time,  but  the  cost  of  the 
vaccine  was  more  than  paid  by  the  voluntary  contributions  of 
those  vaccinated.  In  order  properly  to  follow  up  this  work,  six 
newly  arrived  American  nurses,  connected  with  the  Union  Med- 
ical College,  volunteered  to  visit  the  homes  of  all  the  vaccinated 
children  and  give  advice  in  case  of  infection  or  failure  of  the 


STREET   CHAPEL. 


THE    PEKING    CHINESE    YOUNG    MEN  S    CHRISTIAN    ASSOCIATION. 
Headquarters   of  the   Princeton   University   Center   in   China. 


TWO   LITTLE   MAIDS    FROM    SCHOOL. 

The  effects  of  education  and  Christianity  are  particularly  noticeable  in  the 
faces  of  the  Chinese  women,  even  in  the  faces  of  these  little  tots  from  the 
Union  Kindergarten. 


PEKING  COMMUNITY  SERVICE  GROUP       399 

vaccination  to  "take."  Each  of  these  young  women  took  with 
her  a  young  Chinese  student  who  acted  as  interpreter.  They  were 
always  welcomed  with  courtesy  and  frequently  with  cordiality. 
Many  of  the  homes  thus  visited  had  never  before  been  favored 
by  a  call  from  a  foreign  guest. 

Little  has  been  done  in  the  district  along  the  line  of  moral 
reform.  A  paper  printed  in  the  vernacular  is  issued  every  ten 
days  and  reaches  over  one  thousand  homes,  but  the  editor,  an 
elderly  man  who  was  formerly  a  school  principal,  has  as  yet 
failed  to  see  the  possibility  of  influencing  public  opinion  along 
the  most  needed  lines.  The  recent  organization  of  an  Editorial 
Board  gives  promise  of  better  results.  The  Moral  Reform 
Commission,  in  rescuing  a  little  slave  girl,  has  succeeded  in  doing 
one  piece  of  concrete  service.  Hated  by  her  master,  the  girl  was 
forced  to  live  on  the  ground  in  the  chicken  house,  and  to  exist  on 
food  thrown  to  her  by  members  of  the  household.  She  was 
kicked  about  and  terribly  maltreated.  The  matter  was  reported 
to  the  police  by  the  Community  Service  Group,  the  girl  was 
released,  and  a  fine  was  levied  on  her  master. 

The  district  in  which  we  were  working  is  surrounded  on  four 
sides  by  large  loo-foot  road- ways,  but  the  streets  in  the  middle 
of  the  block  are,  for  the  most  part,  small  winding  lanes,  running 
between  the  high  walls  of  the  Chinese  courtyards.  Frequently 
these  lanes  are  blind  alleys  and  at  the  end  of  many  of  them 
there  is  an  open  space  or  Ts'ao  Ch'ang  (grass  court,  as  it  is  called 
in  Chinese).  The  Playground  Commission  saw  in  these  Ts'ao 
Ch'ang  the  natural  places  for  public  playgrounds.  During  the 
winter  months  the  prospective  leaders  of  the  playgrounds,  15 
young  men  and  15  young  women,  were  selected  from  among 
the  young  women  attending  the  Yen  Ching  College  and 
the  students  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  day 
school,  and  were  given  training  in  outdoor  games  by  the  physical 
directors  of  the  Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's  Christian 
Associations.  Only  one  small  group  of  boys  was  organized  dur- 
ing the  cold  weather,  as  an  old  tea  house  was  the  only  available 
place  for  their  play.  They,  however,  served  as  a  practice  group 
for  the  teachers  and  as  a  nucleus  for  the  larger  groups  organized 
when  the  spring  weather  made  it  possible  to  move  the  work  to  the 
Ts'ao  Ch'ang.  When  the  outdoor  work  was  started,  a  campaign 
was  organized  to  secure  members  for  the  boys'  groups.  Team 
captains  were  appointed  and  prizes  were  offered.  A  parade  of 
boys  led  by  the  playground  leaders,  a  boy  beating  a  drum  and 
another  blowing  a  horn,  advertised  the  campaign  throughout  the 
alleys  of  the  district.  The  average  attendance  the  three  after- 
noons a  week  on  which  the  boys'  playground  was  held  was  about 
thirty,  over  one  hundred  different  boys  attending  irregularly. 


400  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

The  girls  on  their  three  afternoons  had  an  average  attendance  of 
20.  Before  their  play  hour,  the  boys  were  given  a  talk  on  educa- 
tional and  moral  themes. 

Up  to  the  present  the  Commission  on  Social  Relationships  has 
not  been  able  to  organize  an  extensive  program.  There  is  a 
wonderful  spirit  of  accord  and  comradeship  among  the  workers, 
both  paid  and  voluntary,  especially  among  the  40  original  charter 
members ;  over  225  church  members  have  given  voluntary  service 
during  the  first  eight  months  of  this  organization's  existence ;  the 
work  of  most  of  the  departments  has  been  made  possible  by  the 
social  contacts  between  the  group  members  and  the  community, 
but  the  larger  task  of  welding  the  district  into  a  community,  street 
by  street  and  class  by  class,  is  still  to  be  undertaken. 

During  the  summer  time  a  special  program  with  two  free  day 
schools  for  girls  and  boys  in  which  bamboo  and  rope  work  were 
taught  as  well  as  the  regular  primary  school  studies,  open  air 
stereopticon  lectures  that  attracted  three  or  four  hundred  people, 
a  free  reading  room  and  game  room  for  children  open  to  the 
public  outside  of  school  hours,  was  started  in  a  large  mat  shed 
erected  in  one  of  the  most  congested  parts  of  the  district,  but 
was  badly  interrupted  by  the  political  turmoil  into  which  China 
was  thrown  in  July,  1920.  This  same  interruption,  however, 
gave  the  Community  Service  Group  an  opportunity  to  experiment 
in  a  wider  sphere  of  usefulness. 

Early  in  July  it  became  apparent  that  the  armies  of  General 
Ts'ao  K'un,  advancing  from  Tientsin,  and  General  Wu  P'ei  Fu, 
coming  from  Pao  Ting  Fu  District  to  attack  the  hated  pro-Jap- 
anese Anfu  party  in  control  of  the  Government,  would  converge 
south  of  Peking.  The  railroad  communication  with  Tientsin  and 
Hankow  was  cut  off,  the  city  gates  were  closed,  and  it  became 
increasingly  difficult  to  secure  permission  to  get  in  or  out  of  the 
city,  grain  became  scarce  and  the  price  of  food  rose  rapidly, 
many  of  the  people  were  in  a  state  of  panic  and  apprehension 
lest  the  city  be  raided  and  looted  by  the  defeated  troops.  Seeing 
their  opportunity,  the  Community  Service  Group  called  together 
representatives  of  the  following  organizations : 

In  the  East  City:  The  three  centers  of  the  Peking  Govern- 
ment  University,  the  Chen  Yi  Girls'  School,  the  East  Cathedral 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  the  Chinese  Independent  Church. 

In  the  South  City :  The  Hua  Shih  Chapel  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  the  National  Teachers'  College,  the  Fu  Shu  Middle 
School,  the  Government  Medical  College,  two  of  the  Ching  Chen 
Mosques. 

In  the  West  City:  The  Shantung  Middle  School,  the  P'ei 
Ken  Girls'  School,  the  Government  Law  School,  the  Ts'ui  Wen 
London  Mission  Boys'  School,  the  Fourth  Government  Middle 


PEKING  COMMUNITY  SERVICE  GROUP       401 

School,  the  Ching  Chao  Agricultural  Society,  the  French  Lan- 
guage Institute,  the  Higher  Technical  College,  the  Government 
Official  Weight  and  Balance  Measuring  Station,  the  Yu  Ying 
Roman  Catholic  School,  the  Kuang  Hua  Buddhist  Temple,  the 
Ku  Lou  Hsi  Presbyterian  Mission. 

After  much  deliberation,  the  Women's  and  Children's  Relief 
Association  was  organized  with  the  object  of  preparing  refuges 
to  which  women  and  children  might  go  in  case  of  riots  within 
the  city.  Twenty-three  centers  capable  of  furnishing  accommoda- 
tions for  over  eleven  thousand  people  were  secured.  These  in- 
cluded Buddhist  temples,  Mohammedan  mosques,  Roman  Cath- 
olic and  Protestant  mission  buildings,  government  schools.  A 
responsible  head  was  appointed  for  each  refuge  and  the  women 
and  children  of  the  near-by  districts  were  registered  and  prom- 
ised admittance  in  case  of  danger.  Warning  of  imminent  danger 
was  to  be  given  by  the  raising  of  a  large  Red  Cross  flag  over  the 
refuge.  All  of  the  23  centers  were  supplied  by  the  central  organ- 
ization with  enough  grain  to  last  three  or  four  days,  while  in 
several  instances  large  cases  of  grain  for  emergency  use  were 
given  by  interested  people  living  in  the  locality.  The  Anfu  party 
collapsed  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  and  their  forces  were  de- 
feated, but  although  30,000  troops  retreated  toward  the  city  they 
were  not  able  to  get  inside  the  walls.  The  gates  were  kept  closed 
and  the  soldiers  were  so  hard  pressed  by  the  victors  that  they 
did  not  have  time  to  force  their  way  in.  The  women  and  children 
did  not  have  to  use  the  refuges,  but  they  were  saved  many  anxious 
hours  by  the  feeling  of  assurance  that  they  would  be  protected 
in  case  of  danger. 

Although  the  Women's  and  Children's  Relief  Association  did 
not  actually  accomplish  what  it  set  out  to  do,  it  did  reveal  the 
large  number  of  persons  and  organizations  of  all  creeds  and  of 
no  creed  who  are  willing  to  work  together  in  a  common  task  of 
unselfish  service  provided  the  vision  and  the  leadership  are  forth- 
coming. 

The  concrete  results  of  the  eight  months'  work  in  the  district 
are  not  easy  to  show  but  perhaps  are  best  described  by  a  young 
woman  who  for  ten  years  has  gone  in  and  out  among  the  homes 
of  the  district  and  so  is  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  people  there. 
She  said:  'There  are  two  concrete  results  that  I  see.  For- 
merly children  did  not  play  on  the  streets.  Now,  as  I  walk 
around  the  Teng  Shih  K'ou  District,  I  often  see  groups  of  boys 
and  girls,  probably  led  by  boys  who  have  been  members  of  our 
playgrounds,  playing  modern  games.  Previously,  down  the  main 
market  street  of  the  district,  fly  screens  over  the  meat  and  vege- 
tables were  never  seen.  Now,  as  a  result  of  our  health  lectures, 
many  of  the  stores  take  these  sanitary  precautions." 


402  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

The  various  experiments  made  by  the  Community  Service 
Group  have  by  no  means  been  a  complete  success,  but  they  have 
demonstrated  that  a  large  number  of  people,  both  Christian  and 
non-Christian,  are  eager  to  work  together  in  tasks  of  community 
service.  The  challenge  of  a  real  task  has  aroused  several  lethargic 
church  members,  a  woman  particularly  interested  in  Buddhism 
has  been  one  of  the  most  enthusiastic  of  the  entire  group,  the 
local  police  official  has  cooperated  well,  the  students  have  shown 
ability  to  carry  out  the  concrete  tasks  planned  for  them.  Further- 
more, they  have  shown  some  of  the  problems  that  will  have  to  be 
met  in  any  social  program,  particularly  the  need  for  a  more 
complete  understanding  of  Chinese  life  and  the  need  of  trained 
leadership. 

In  order  to  solve  some  of  these  problems  of  what  is  becoming 
a  city-wide  social  movement — three  new  districts  have  asked  that 
they  be  surveyed  and  organized  for  work — the  Young  Men's  and 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  and  the  Union  University 
are  uniting  their  three  social  service  departments.  Each  of  these 
three  organizations  is  to  supply  a  certain  number  of  foreign  and 
Chinese  workers,  who,  as  a  team,  will  conduct  social  investiga- 
tions, plan  new  enterprises,  give  advice  and  counsel  to  the 
churches  and  other  organizations  along  the  lines  of  technical 
social  service.  In  the  public  health  part  of  the  social  program 
they  will  cooperate  closely  with  the  doctors  and  nurses  of  the 
Union  Medical  College. 

Realizing  that  trained  native  leadership  is  the  most  pressing 
need  of  all,  if  a  successful  social  movement  is  to  be  launched  in 
China,  the  Peking  Union  University  is  utilizing  part  of  the  time 
of  the  members  of  this  staff  to  develop  vocational  courses  in 
social  service  with  practice  work  in  actual  community  service. 
It  is  hoped  that  this  is  but  the  beginning  of  what  will  eventually 
become  a  school  of  social  economics  through  which  it  will  be 
possible  to  apply  modern  scientific  principles  to  the  developing 
social  work  in  China. 

Even  this  small  experiment,  the  outgrowth  of  the  survey,  has 
made  it  all  the  more  plain  that  the  field  for  social  service  is  wide 
open,  but  that  a  successful  social  program  can  be  achieved  only 
through  a  careful  study  of  the  facts,  by  numerous  experiments  in 
practical  methods  and  by  the  union  of  the  Christian  forces  with 
the  other  progressive  elements  in  New  China. 


APPENDICES 


APPENDIX  I:  GEOGRAPHY 

METEOROLOGICAL  TABLES  * 


1918 

June 

3  «  K 
Inches 
•  •  •  29.57 

fe£  • 

ill 

F. 
74.7 

MAXIMl 
D  HIJ  (TEMPER. 
TUEE 

Si 

F. 
66.5 

u 

F. 

19  1 

*  RAIN, 
^  INCHES 

g 

16 

July 

.  20.  54 

78 

g~ 

64 

180 

IT 

A  11  or 

.    20  71 

756 

oo 

& 

ft  fto 

16 

Sept     .   . 

.   20.77 

68 

86 

49 

2O.O 

O2O 

Oct 

.  2008 

ft6.4 

77 

OO2 

Nov 

•jn  14 

•3,7 

61 

12 

16  o 

I  O7 

Dec    

.    ^O.2  1 

27  7 

46 

I7.I 

OO6 

2 

1919 
Tan   . 

18.9 

40 

I 

15.5 

O.Ift 

8 

Feb  

?OOO 

35.6 

4 

24.1 

March 

2O08 

AA 

58 

22 

22  ft 

O  ^2 

April   .  .  . 

.  .  .    29.77 

57.8 

85 

23 

24.1 

O.I4 

4 

Mav  . 

.    20.00 

68.8 

01 

41 

23.0 

0.04 

a 

Total  or  average         53.3 


20.0 


15.62 


92 


1918 

June  

i| 
SI 

<  W 
627 

IP 

jll 

sis 

E            NE 

&8g 

°'3§ 

fc  H  k 

^  AVERAGE 
»  VELOCITY 
r  MI.  PER  HR. 

DAILY 

*  MEAN 
v>  VELOCITY 

July 

7e  7 

SE  9°  E 

^>,w 
^08 

6ft 

8o.O 

N  34°  NW 

^.uo 
2  ft6 

u.;> 
6.2 

Sept 

C7  e 

I  ^ 

yl     CQ 

12  4 

Oct  

....     lo.o 

NW  20°  W 

•••J 

10 

4-i>y 
4.16 

IO.I 

JvJov       

^08 

N  42°  NW 

12 

^.xw 

4.62 

Ift.2 

Dec 

66  ft 

4  27 

II  8 

1919 
Jan 

78o 

N  38°  NW 

6 

'+•*'/ 
3.62 

14.6 

Feb 

C7  2 

NW  9°  W 

6 

4O 

I  "5.4 

March   

61  o 

NW  43°  W 

17 

5.17 

13.8 

April       .  .  .  . 

328 

NW  29°  W 

22 

7.17 

16.3 

Mav  . 

48.2 

SW  20°  S 

14 

4.27 

9.5 

Total  or  average  61.0  131 

1  Translated   from   Vol.   No.   4,   Astronomical   and  Meteorological  Magazine,   As- 
tronomical  Society  of   China. 

405 


APPENDIX  II:  GOVERNMENT 


NUMBER  OF  POLICE 
Five-Year  Report 

YEAS  NUMBER          YEAR 

1913  7,774   I9i6  

1914  8,761   1917  

1915 8,185 

Five-year  increase,  10.2%. 

POLICE 
Other  Than  Head  Men 

INSIDE  DEPARTMENT 

UNDER 
CAPTAINS        OFFICERS 


Orders  and  corresponder 
Transmission  of   orders. 
Guarding   Police   Board. 
Punishment       

5 

12 
I 

3 

2 

2 

34 
3 

12 
II 

Jails    . 

Total  

23 

OUTSIDE 

DEPARTMENT 

UNDER 

CAPTAINS 

OFFICERS 

MEN 

TOTAL 

Central  I       .  .  .  .  10 

4"? 

4O2 

4« 

Central  2   6 

22 

213 

T"J  J 

241 

Inside  Left  I  n 

34 

438 

483 

Inside  Left  2  9 

31 

331 

Inside  Left  3  7 

33 

296 

336 

Inside  Left  4  7 

255 

206 

Inside  Right  I  .  .  .     7 

26 

3§7 

420 

Inside  Right  2...  12 

35 

403 

450 

Inside  Right  3  ...  12 

34 

313 

359 

Inside  Right  4...    8 

35 

350 

393 

Outside  Left  i..     9 

30 

33i 

370 

Outside  Left  2.  .  n 

21 

337 

369 

Outside  Left  3..    8 

16 

217 

241 

Outside  Left  4.  .     7 

18 

158 

183 

Outside  Left  5..    9 

29 

243 

281 

Outside  Right  I.  12 

22 

323 

357 

Outside  Right  2.  10 

27 

283 

320 

Outside  Right  3-   10 

18 

253 

281 

Outside  Right  4.    6 

24 

2IO 

240 

Outside  Right  5.   10 

28 

293 

331 

Total    181 

560 

6,036 

6,777 

J>W 

406 

NUMBER 

.    8,477 
•    8,590 


MEN 

90 
133 

33 
39 

_2Q 

324 


TOTAL 

97 

179 

37 

54 

409 


NO.  PER 

1,000  IN- 

NO. PER 

HABI- 

TOTAL 

SQ.  LI. 

TANTS 

455 

39 

12 

241 

65 

19 

483 

32 

7 

371 

39 

4 

336 

33 

5 

296 

23 

3 

420 

47 

7 

450 

35 

8 

359 

34 

7 

393 

30 

5 

370 

105 

9 

369 

102 

9 

241 

47 

6 

183 

ii 

12 

281 

72 

5 

357 

93 

9 

320 

76 

6 

281 

37 

8 

240 

15 

5 

331 

17 

10 

6,777 

Av.  35 

7 

GOVERNMENT 

POLICE    (Continued") 


407 


SPECIAL 


UNDER 

CAPTAINS  OFFICERS  MEN                  TOTAU 

Special  i 7  25  254                 286 

Special  2 7  25  250                  282 

Special  3 6  22  238                  266 

Special  4 6  23  248                  277 

Cavalry   2  17  85                   104 

Hospital,  Inside  —  I  5                      6 

Hospital,   Outside   *—  I  12                    13 

Police  Officers  School I  —  4                       5 

Police  School  5  I  3                      9 

Recruits  School   2  6  8 

Poorhouse,  Inside  I  —  4                      5 

Poorhouse,  Outside —  145 

Industrial  Home I  4  34                    39 

Prostitute  Registration —  I  2                      3 

Tung  An  Market I  2  17                    20 

Kwan  An  Market —  —  3                      3 

Reform  School I  3  41                    45 

Women's  Industrial  Home I  3  24                   28 

Total   41  13$  1,228               1,404 

MISCELLANEOUS 

Firemen  7  60  426                 493 

Watchmen    I  2  —                      3 

In  Charge  of  Engines —  14  14 

Engine  Caretakers —  2  2                     4 

Band  I  5  58                   64 

Detectives  6  6  320                 332 

Total 15  89  806                 910 

Grand  Total   260  846  8,494               9,6oo 

Exclusive  of  Fire  Department  and  Detectives,  8,590. 

FIRES 
By  Police  Districts 

HOUSES  DESTROYED 
DISTRICT  NUMBER        TOTALLY        PARTIALLY    TO.  NO. 

Central  I 3  —  3                  3 

Central  2 I  I  —                  I 

Inside  Left  1 14  I  *3                 14 

Inside  Left  2 I  —  I                   I 

Inside  Left  3 3*45 

Inside  Left  4 2  —  22 

Inside  Right  1 8  I  3                  4 

Inside  Right  2 ,,-^.j i  —  I                   I 

Inside  Right  3 5  —  5                  5 

Inside  Right4 •«..    7  81  89 

Outside  Left  i I  — 

Outside  Left  2 I  — 

Outside  Left  3 i  —  I                  I 

Outside  Left  4 <a  —  —               — • 


408 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


FIRES    (Continued) 
By  Police  Districts 

HOUSES  DESTROYED 
DISTRICT  NUMBER        TOTALLY         PARTIALLY    TO.    NO. 

Outside  Right  r 10  —                  2  2 

Outside  Right  2 16  16  16 

Outside  Right  3 4  4  4 

Outside  Right  4 10  I  i 

Outside  Right  5 3  3  3 

Total  93  85  69  154 

Houses  pulled  down  to  stop  fires :    Totally,  i ;  partially,  14. 
Men  wounded  extinguishing  fires,  3. 
Incendiary  fires,  none. 

By  Months 

HOUSES  DESTROYED 
1917  NUMBER        TOTALLY        PARTIALLY  TOT.  NO. 

January  24                                    18                 18 

February 9                                      5                  5 

March    12                                    10                 10 

April   9178 

May  7257 

June   6                —                  2                  2 

July  5                81                  4                85 

AugUSt 2  2  2 

September 4  —                   4  4 

October   3  i                   3  4 

November 7  5  5 

December   5  4  4 

Total 93  85  69  154 

POLICE  EXPENDITURES 

EXPENDITURE         EXPENDITURE 
YEAR  PER  POLICEMAN  PER  PERSON 

1913  $i,777,8i3         $230        $2.44 

1914  1,068,321  224  2.56 

1915  I,88l,I49  230  2.39 

1916  1,991,575  236  2.48 

1917  2,235,934        260        2.75 

Five-year  increase,  25.7%. 

POLICE  EXPENDITURES 

1917 
Regular  Expenses  Special  Expenses 

Salaries $373,867  Building    $16,759 

Rations    930,025  Purchases  3,521 

Office  expense 197,342  Detectives     1,654 

Wages   5,914  Rewards    6,043 

Horse  food 22,608  Charity   3,086 

Depreciation    4,880  Police  school 20,194 

Miscellaneous    77,799  Coal   10,042 

Celebrations     521 

Total    $1,612,435  Traveling   564 


GOVERNMENT 


409 


POLICE  EXPENDITURES    (Continued) 


1917 


Special  Expenses — Continued 


Fire  tools  $2,985 

Uniforms    300,000 

Cultivating  trees 1,736 

Fengs   4,086 

House  numbers  and  cen- 
sus supplies  4,569 


Total   $377,700 


Other  Expenses 
Government  Hospital,  N. 

City    $30,974 

Government  Hospital,  S. 

City    29,960 

Street  cleaning 136,579 

Prostitution  registration.  1,323 

Poorhouses  (2)   3,473 

Poor  Men's  Schools  (2)  .  10,800 

Time  Gun 1,596 

Drum  Tower 672 

Door  of  Hope 1,200 

Women's  Poorhouse   ...  1,116 

Kung  Ch'ang  (2)   3,936 


Spent  for  Other  Organizations  and 

Repaid  by  Them 
Markets    . 


Mail  protection 

Care  of  flowers 

Well  rent  

Rewards  to  outsiders 

Trees   

Food  for  those  in  jail. . . 

General  purchases  

Food    for    Police    Board 

Officers    

Cart  hire 

Expenses  for  sick  men.. 

Building    

Food  for  inspectors 

Detectives  

Miscellaneous    . 


$1,440 
2,868 


2,356 

231 

3,435 

212 

8,910 
480 
145 

2,027 

181 
670 

758 


Total    $24,110 

Totals 

Regular  expenses $1,612,435 

Special  expenses   337,76o 

Other  expenses 221,629 

Spent  for  other  organiza- 
tions    24,110 


Total   $221,629 


$2,235,934 


YEAK 
1913 
1914 
1915 
I9l6 
1917 


CRIME 


NO.  OF  CRIMES 

....  2,549 

....  3,247 
•  •  •  •  3,417 
....  3,273 

....  3,886 


%  INCREASE 
OR  DECREASE 

27 

5 

4.3 

19 


RATE  PER 
I, OOO  PERSONS 

3.51 
4.22 
4.32 
4-07 
478 


Total  increase  1913-1917,  46.7%. 


Misdemeanors 


NO.  OF 
YEAR  MISDEMEANORS 

1913    20,554 

1914    21,056 

1915    21,130 

1916    22,373 

1917    22,870 

Total  increase  1913-1917,  11.3%. 


%  INCREASE 
OR  DECREASE 

2.5 

li 

2.8 


RATE  PER 
I, OOO  PERSONS 
28.2 
274 
26.7 
27-9 
28.2 


410 


PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


CRIME   (Continued) 
Total  Crimes  and  Misdemeanors 


YZAR 


CRIMES 


%  INCREASE      RATE  PER 
OR  DECREASE    I,OOO  PERSONS 


1913  ..............  23,103 

1914  ..............  24,303 

1915  ..............  24,547 

1916  ..............  25,646 

1917  ..............  26,756 

Total  increase  1913-1917,  15.5%. 


1.0 

4.8 

4-6 


31.6 
31.0 
32.0 
33-0 


CLASSES  OF  MISDEMEANORS 


OFFENSE  MALE 

General  regulations 7,403 

Customs    4,005 

Communications  2,308 

Health   2,076 

Breaking  the  peace 400 

Public  disturbance 65 

False  suit  22 

Others   3,666 

Total    19,945 


TOTAL 


2,925 


22,870 


AGE  OF  MISDEMEANANTS 


AGE-GROUPS  MALE 

I-IO    8.5 

II-2O     13.8 

21-30   334 

31-40     274 

41-50   12.6 

51-60    3-9 

61  and  over i.o 

Total  .                                   .  loo.o 


100.0 


100.0 


CONVICTIONS  BY  MONTHS 


MALE 

January    1,557 

February  ....  1,648 

March   1,008 

April   1,832 

May  i,937 

June 1,814 


FEMALE  TOTAL 
IO2  I  659 

July 

MALE 

i  18^ 

1*51  I  70O 

August 

I  OOO 

AO  ,/  W 

265  2,173 
319  2,151 
370  2,307 
368  2,182 

September 
October  .  . 
November 
December 

..   1,627 
.  ..   1,441 
..  1,678 
...  1,420 

FEMALE    TOTAL 


Total   19,945     2,925      22,870 


GOVERNMENT 


ROBBERIES  AND  THEFTS 
By  Police  Districts 


DISTRICT  NUMBER 

Central  I 116 

Central  2 14 

Inside  Left  1 276 

Inside  Left  2 146 

Inside  Left  3 47 

Inside  Left  4 256 

Inside  Right  i 88 

Inside  Right  2 112 

Inside  Right  3 179 

Inside  Right  4 85 


DISTRICT  NUMBER 

Outside  Left  1 131 

Outside  Left  2 153 

Outside  Left  3 40 

Outside  Left  4 39 

Outside  Left  5 192 

Outside  Right  1 229 

Outside  Right  2 1,379 

Outside  Right  3 24 

Outside  Right  4 186 

Outside  Right  5 194 

Total 3,886 


APPENDIX  III:  POPULATION 


PEKING  POPULATION 
1917  Police  Census 


NO.  MALES 

PER  PERSONS 

PER  IOO 

CENT 

PER 

DISTRICT 

HOUSES 

MALES 

FEMALES 

TOTAL 

FEMALES 

MALE 

HOUSE 

Central   i 

6706 

I7Q86 

14,126 

•32  TI2 

T27 

aft 

Central  2  

•        V^j/  V/V-F 

2.2=^ 

J.  /  y\^AJ 

6,1^0 

O    , 

' 

C7  A 

48 

Inside  Left  i 

•     ^j-^OJ 

0086 

V>A  OJT 

l8  7OQ 

ec  706 

IOO 

J/  •'+ 

^f.u 

Inside  Left  2.  ... 

•      ^fy^-*J 

-  13,397 

43378 

J.V/,/  Wy 

23,884 

O0,  /iA* 

67,762 

188 

64.6 

Si 

Inside  Left  3 

II  4IQ 

21  7o8 

I  ^  T 

60.  1 

48 

Inside  Left  4 

.    A  A  jiiA  V/ 

^'217 

**  A  ,/  y^3 
27,346 

g?eX- 

T7Q 

^8.2 

4J..U 

Inside  Right  I  .  .  . 

.    8,738 

O^>^  *  / 

27,971 

43,814 

^ 
176 

JU.^ 

63.8 

5.0 

Inside  Right  2.  .. 

.11,862 

22,373 

23,075 

45,448 

97 

49.2 

3-8 

Inside  Right  3.  .  . 

•    9,089 

25,646 

15,981 

41,627 

161 

61.7 

4.6 

Inside  Right  4.  .  . 

.  13,595 

39,26i 

26,032 

65,293 

151 

60.  i 

4-8 

Outside  Left  i.. 

.  6,816 

27,298 

7,986 

35;274 

339 

77.2 

5-2 

Outside  Left  2.  . 

.  6,160 

26,556 

8,123 

34,679 

326 

76.5 

5-6 

Outside  Left  3.  . 

.  6,460 

20,057 

n,775 

31,832 

170 

62.9 

4-9 

Outside  Left  4.. 

•  2,589 

7,404 

4,796 

12,200 

156 

60.6 

4-7 

Outside  Left  5.. 

.  9,366 

30,187 

41,704 

259 

72.2 

4-5 

Outside  Right  i. 

•  6,770 

26,356 

8,610 

34,966 

302 

75-2 

5.2 

Outside  Right  2. 

.  7,392 

29,462 

15*366 

44,828 

174 

63.5 

6.1 

Outside  Right  3. 

.  6,278 

18,748 

9,977 

28,727 

188 

65-3 

4-6 

Outside  Right  4. 

•  7,546 

20,748 

15,335 

36,083 

135 

57-4 

4.8 

Outside  Right  5. 

•  6,251 

17,217 

11,185 

28,402 

156 

60.6 

4-5 

Total    . 

i66.<;22 

206.021 

811  «;c;6 

174 

fas 

4.0 

Central  Districts  are  in  the  Imperial  City. 

Inside  Districts  are  those  of  the  North  City. 

Outside  Districts  are  those  of  the  South  or  Chinese  City. 

Left   Districts  are   on    east   side    of    the    City. 

Right  Districts  are  on  west  side  of  the  City. 

Change  From  1915  to  1917  Census 


HOUSES 

POPULATION 

POLICE  DISTRICT 

NUMBER 

PERCENT 

NUMBER 

PERCENT 

Central  i  

—  491 

—  7 

—  2673 

—  •» 

Central  2     . 

•lyA 
—  —  IO^ 

-8 

^Jr^/  O 

—    <$8 

«3 

—  e 

Inside  Left  i  

1  z/O 
952 

—  8 

;>*-*-» 
—  I.78d 

O 
rjtanB    ^ 

Inside  Left  2  

2,353 

21 

J/*J*T 

H,432 

O 
20 

Inside  Left  3  

1,172 

10 

2,445 

5 

Inside  Left  4  

2,380 

21 

7,638 

13 

Inside  Right  I  

533 

6 

1,678 

6 

Inside  Right  2  

479 

4 

—  10,788 

—  19 

Inside  Right  3  

—  21 

—    1,436 

—   3 

Inside  Right  4  

515 

4 

3,414 

5 

Outside  Left  i  

—  18 

-998 

—  3 

Outside  Left  2  

—  19 

—  2 

—  172 

—  I 

Outside  Left  3  

00 

I 

—  250 

—  i 

Outside  Left  4  

332 

15 

1,147 

n 

Outside  Left  5.... 

1,002 

12 

3,593 

9 

412 


POPULATION 


413 


PEKING  POPULATION 
Change  from  1915  to  1917  Census   (Continued) 


POLICE     DISTRICT 

Outside  Right  I . . . 
Outside  Right  2... 
Outside  Right  3 ... 
Outside  Right  4... 
Outside  Right  5. .. 


HOUSES 

NUMBER  PERCENT 

216  3 

—  142  — 2 

196  3 

825  12 

280  5 


POPULATION 
NUMBER  PERCENT 

1,389 

1,161 

—  268 

2,398 


2,273 


4 
3 
—  i 

7 
9 


Total  8,450  5  20,311 

—  Denotes  a  decrease  in  1917  as  compared  with  1915. 
Growth  in  Four  Years 


YEAR 


MALES 


1914  ...........  - 

1915  ............  508,335 

1916  ............  515,568 

1917  ............  5IS53S 


FEMALES 


282,910 
285,568 
296,021 


Total  increase 


TOTAL 
727,863 
769,317 
789,123 
801,136 
811,556 

83,693 


2.5 


PERCENTAGE 
INCREASE 
PER  YEAR 


2.8 
1.8 

1.2 


AREA  AND  POPULATION 
Peking  and  American  Cities 


CITIES                                          AREA  POPULATION 

Peking 24.74  811,556 

Pittsburg  40.67  533,905 

Philadelphia  132.00  1,549,008 

Boston  43.00  670,585 

Chicago  191.40  2,185,283 

Cincinnati  44.00  363,591 

St.  Louis  61.37  687,029 

Peking,  Police  Census,  1917. 

American  Cities,  U.  S.  Census,  1910. 

PEKING  POPULATION 


PERSONS 

POPULATION 

PER 

PER  SQ.  MILE 

HOUSE 

33,626 

4-9 

13,100 

6.1 

11,740 

5-2 

15,600 

9.1 

11,450 

8.9 

8,200 

7-3 

11,200 

6.6 

Density 


DENSITY 
DISTRICT  PER  SQ.  LI 

Central    1 2,816 

Central    2 2,898 

Inside  Left  i 3,77o 

Inside  Left  2 7,132 

Inside  Left  3 5,418 

Inside  Left  4 5,162 

Inside  Right  i 4,922 

Inside  Right  2 3,606 

Inside  Right  3 4,041 

Inside  Right  4 5,141 


PER 

DENSITY 

PER 

SQ.  MILE 

DISTRICT 

PER  SQ.  LI 

SQ.  MILE 

22,078 

Outside 

Left  i  .  . 

.  .  .  10,078 

79,011 

23,420 

Outside 

Left  2.. 

...    9,633 

75,523 

29,546 

Outside 

Left  3.. 

...    6,241 

48,929 

55,914 

Outside 

Left  4.  . 

...        792 

6,209 

42,477 

Outside 

Left  5.  - 

...10,693 

83,823 

40,460 

Outside 

Right  i. 

.  .  .  9,201 

72,136 

38,589 

Outside 

Right  2. 

...10,673 

83,676 

28,271 

Outside 

Right  3. 

...    3,882 

30,414 

31,061 

Outside 

Right  4. 

...    2,327 

18,244 

40,305 

Outside 

Right  5. 

...    1,464 

n,477 

Average    4,289       33,626 


414 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


SEX  DIVISION  OF  POPULATION 
Peking  and  Other  Cities 


CITY  MALES 

Peking  515,535 

Tokio  1,261,571 

Boston  329,703 

Chicago  1,125,764 

New  York  2,382,482 

Philadelphia  760,463 

Pittsburg  273,589 

St.  Louis  346,068 

Entire  United  States  

Peking,  Police  Census,  1917. 

Tokio,  Census,  1919. 

American  Cities,  U.  S.  Census, 


NUMBER 

OF  MALES 

PERCENT  PERIOD 

FEMALES 

TOTAL  POP. 

MALE 

FEMALES 

296,021 

811,556 

63.5 

174 

1,098,064 

2,359,635 

53-4 

114 

340,882 

670,585 

49-2 

97 

1,059,519 

2,185,283 

51.6 

107 

2,384,401 

4,766,883 

49-9 

99 

788,545 

1,549,008 

49-1 

96 

260,316 

533,905 

51.2 

105 

340,961 

687,029 

50-4 

101 

CT   f 

rn£ 

1910. 


AGE  DISTRIBUTION 

PERCENTAGE  OF  POPULATION  IN  FIVE-YEAR  AGE  GROUPS 
Peking  and  American  Cities 


1-5            54   Under  5           n.6 
6-10            5.6            5-9           10.6 

11-15 

0.3 

10-14 

99 

16-20 

8.6 

I5-I9 

9.8 

21-25 

10.5 

20-24 

9-8 

26-30 

n.i 

25-29 

8.9 

31-35 

10.9 

30-34 

7-6 

36-40 

10.3 

35-39 

7.o 

41-45 

8.4 

40-44 

57 

46-50 

6.8 

45-49 

4-9 

51-55 

4-8 

50-54 

4.2 

56-60 

3-8 

55-59 

3-0 

61-65 

2.6 

60-64 

2-5 

66-70 

1.8 

65-69 

1.8 

71-75 

i.i 

70-74 

1.2 

76-80 

0.7 

75-79 

0.7 

81  and  over 

0.5 

80  and  over 

0.6 

No  Data 

0.8 

No  Data 

0.2 

Peking,  Police  Census,  1917. 
American  Cities,  U.  S.  Census,  1910. 

NOTE. — There  is  apparently  a  difference  of  one  year  between  the  Chinese  and 
American  age  groups.  The  difference,  however,  is  more  apparent  than  real,  as  a 
Chinese  baby  is  one  year  old  as  soon  as  it  is  born,  and  is  two  years  old  as  soon  as 
New  Year's  day  is  passed.  The  apparent  difference  is  allowed  to  remain  rather  than 
change  the  classifications  of  the  Chinese  Census. 


POPULATION 


415 


POPULATION  OF  PHILADELPHIA 
Ages  and  Sex 

MALE  FEMALE  TOTAL 

AGE                               NUMBER  NUMBER  NUMBER 

Under  5   76,943  75,978  152,921 

5-9    67,559  67,396  131,084 

10-14    65,334  65,750  131,084 

15-19   67,600  73,940  141,540 

20-24    75,639  82,543  158,182 

25-29    74,274  75,923  150,197 

30-34   67,021  66,517  133,538 

35-39   62,821  63,609  126,520 

40-44    53,224  53,177  106,401 

45-49    44,128  43,823  87,051 

50-54    36,156  36,824  72,980 

55-59   23,606  24,915  48,521 

60-64   !8,I54  20,808  39,052 

65-69    12,312  14,606  27,008 

70-74   7,728  10,489  18,217 

75-79   4,109  6,099  10,208 

80-84    J>8s6  3,1 17  4,973 

85  and  over 759  1,524  2,283 

Unknown  1,240  1,237  2,477 

788,545  1,549,008 


Total   760,463 

U.  S.  Census,  1910. 


POPULATION  OF  BOSTON 
Ages  and  Sex 

MALE  FEMALE  TOTAL 

AGE                               NUMBER  NUMBER  NUMBER 

Under  5 32,265  31,460  63,725 

5-9    28,568  28,211  56,779 

10-14   27,593  27,723  55,316 

15-19   27,074  28,792  55,866 

20-24    32,610  34,540  67,150 

25-29   33,489  34,214  67,703 

30-34   29,847  30,788  60,635 

35-39   29,231  29,491  58,722 

40-44    24,209  23,098  48,207 

45-49   19,812  19,619  39,431 

50-54   15,350  15,559  30,909 

55-59   10,265  11,012  21,277 

60-64   7,733  9,389  17,122 

65-69   5,330  6,617  11,847 

70-74   3,H7  4,570  7,687 

75-79   i,7or  2,632  4,333 

80-84    778  1,320  2,008 

85-89   258  508  766 

90  and  over 70  167  237 

Unknown  403  272  675 

Total   329,703  340,882  670,585 

U.  S.  Census,  1910. 


416 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


PEKING  POPULATION 

Ages  and  Sex 
Number  in  Five-Year  Age  Groups 


AGE  GROUP  MALES 

i-5    26,033 

6-10    26,250 

11-15  30,302 

16-20  45,177 

21-25  57,362 

26-30  62,173 

31-35 60,417 

36-40  51,773 

41-45   46,639 

46-50  34,425 

51-55  24,172 


56-60 

61-65 

66-70 

71-75 
76-80 

81-85 

86-00 
91-95 


18,892 
n,845 
8,i55 
4,908 
3,507 
i,3i5 
532 
310 


No  Data 1,348 


FEMALES 

18,159 
18,980 
20,736 

24,404 
27,622 

27,695 
28,309 
32,186 

21,495 

15,264 

n,854 

9,168 

6,380 

3,913 

2,441 

1,163 

450 

259 

4,905 


MALES 

PERCENT 

PER  IOO 

TOTAL 

MALE 

FEMALES 

44,172 

59 

145 

45,230 

58 

138 

51,038 

59 

145 

69,581 

65 

185 

84,984 

67 

208 

89,868 

69 

224 

88,726 

68 

213 

83,959 

62 

161 

68,134 

68 

217 

55,083 

63 

167 

39,436 

61 

158 

30,746 

61 

158 

21,013 

56 

128 

14,535 

56 

128 

8,821 

56 

128 

5,948 

59 

145 

2,478 

53 

H3 

982 

54 

H7 

569 

55 

I2O 

6,253 

22 

27 

Total  515,535         296,021          811,556  63.5         174 

PEKING  POPULATION 

Ages  and  Sex- 


AGE  GROUP 

6-10  ... 

11-15  .... 

16-20  — 

21-25  -••• 

26-30  — 

31-35 
36-40 


Percent  in  Five-Year  Age  Groups 

FEMALES 

6.1 

6.4 
7.0 
8.2 
9-3 
9-3 
9-6 
10.8 

7-3 
7.0 

5.3 
4.0 

3-1 

2.2 

1.3 
0.8 
0.6 
1.7 


MALES 

•  5.1 

•  S.i 
5-9 
8.7 

ii. i 

I2.I 

ii. 7 

IO.I 


41-45    ....................     9.0 


46-50 

51-55 
56-60 
61-65 
66-70 

71-75 
76-80 
81  and  over  ..............     0.4 

No  Data   ................    0.2 


6.7 

4-7 
37 
2.3 
1.6 

0.9 

0.7 


TOTAL 
54 

5-6 

6.3 

8.6 

10.5 

ii. i 

10.9 

10.3 

8.4 

6.8 

4-8 
3-8 
2.6 
1.8 
i.i 
0.7 
0.5 


APPENDIX  IV:  HEALTH 

BIRTHS,  1917 
(Including  Still  Births.) 

BIRTH  RATE 

PER  I  ,OOO 

POLICE  DISTRICT                                          MALE              FEMALE  TOTAL  FEMALES 

Central  1 256               228  484  34.2 

Central  2 109               109  218  47.0 

Inside  Left  1 430               351  781  41.8 

Inside  Left  2 370               265  635  26.6 

Inside  Left  3 295                247  542  24.9 

Inside  Left  4 515               416  931  34.1 

Inside  Right  1 407                337  744  46.9 

Inside  Right  2 202                182  384  16.6 

Inside  Right  3 168                157  325  20.2 

Inside  Right  4 284                234  518  19.9 

Outside  Left  1 146                128  174  21.8 

Outside  Left  2 141                 97  238  29.2 

Outside  Left  3 414               394  804  68.2 

Outside  Left  4 135                123  258  54.0 

Outside  Left  5 253               244  497  43.0 

Outside  Right  1 177                133  3™  36.0 

Outside  Right  2 288               241  529  33.8 

Outside  Right  3...    100                 83  183  18.4 

Outside  Right  4 297                262  559  36.4 

Outside  Right  5 181                14?  328  29.3 

Total   5,188             4,378  9,566  32.6 

Stillborn:  Males  307,  5.9  percent;  females  333,  7.1  percent;  total  640, 
6.7  percent^ 

Masculinity  rate,  118. 

Birth  Rate:  n.8  per  thousand;  32.6  per  thousand  females;  51.1  per 
thousand  women  of  child-bearing  age. 


DEATHS 

YEAR  NUMBER           RATE  PER  I,OOO 

1913 14,107  19.4 

1914 14464  18.8 

1915 16,292  20.6 

I9l6 19,964  24.9 

1917 20,98l  25.8 

1917— Males 11,142  21.6 

1917— Females 9^45  33-2 

417 


418 


PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


DEATH  RATES  FOR  AGE  GROUPS 


AGE  GROUP                       MALE 
1-5    3,170 

6-10  937 

11-15  666 

16-20 567 

21-30 1,020 

31-40 829 

41-50 976 

51-60 1,040 

61-70 1,057 

71-80 617 

81-90 241 

9t-IOO 12 

'No  data 10 


RATE 

RATE 

PER  I,OOO 

FEMALE 

PER  I,OOO 

122 

2,753 

152 

35.8 

896 

47-2 

21.8 

597 

28.8 

12.6 

550 

22.5 

8.5 

911 

16.5 

7.4 

775 

12.8 

I2.O 

17.6 

24.1 

790 

29.2 

52.8 

868 

55.7 

73.5 

658 

108 

131 

267 

166 

38.6 

28 

108 

ii 


RATE 

TOTAL 

PER  I.OOO 

5,923 

134 

1,833 

40-3 

1,263 

24.8 

1,117 

16.1 

1,921 

II.O 

I,6O4 

9-3 

1,717 

13-9 

1,830 

26.1 

1,925 

54.2 

1,275 

86.4 

508 

147 

40 

70.6 

21 

• 

Total 11,142  21.6       9,845  33.1        20,987  25.8 

Weak  from  birth  includes  5  in  6-10  year  group;  7  in  11-15  year  group. 
Deaths  from  old  age  start  in  the  41-50  year  group. 

SUICIDES 


SUCCESSFUL 
FEMALE 
7 

9 


ATTEMPTED 


MALE 

21 

6 

3 
8 

3 


FEMALE 

TOTAL 

8 

52 

17 

35 

I 

24 

7 

22 

i 

12 

2 

7 

I 

5 

I 

5 

— 

4 

— 

2 

— 

41 

CAUSES  MALE 

Poverty   16 

Family  troubles 3 

Disease    20 

Hating  oneself   4  3 

Insane    7  i 

Discovery  of  crime 4  i 

Debt  3  i  i 

Jealousy i  3 

Punished  by  parents I  3 

Old  age  i  i 

No  data 33  7  i 

Total 93  33  46  38  210 

Total  male,  139;  total  female,  71.  Successful  attempts,  60  per- 
cent ;  male,  67  percent ;  female,  46.5  percent.  Number  per  100,000 
inhabitants:  Total  attempts,  25.9;  successful  attempts,  15.5. 

Ages  of  Successful  and  Attempted  Suicides 

AGES  MALE  FEMALE  TOTAL 

15  and  under 2  3  5 

16-20 2  7  9 

21-30  19  29  48 

31-40 52  19  7i 

41-50 20  6  26 

51-60  12  4  16 

61  and  over 12  3  15 

No  data 10  10 

Total    139  7i  210 

Of  those  under  sixteen  only  one  attempt  was  successful.  Poverty  was 
the  cause  of  two  attempts.  Punishment  by  parents,  two  attempts.  Fam- 
ily trouble,  one  attempt. 


HEALTH 


419 


Methods  of  Suicide 

METHODS  MALE 

Hanging    58 

Poison   22 

Drowning   24 

Stabbing    23 

Opium    2 

Fire    I 

Shooting   I 

Others    8 


Total 


139 


MONTHS  MALE 

January  10 

February  8 

March 12 

April 14 

May    16 

June    9 

July 10 

August 13 

September n 

October   7 

November   12 

December   17 

Total    139 


FEMALE 
10 

25 
22 
II 


3 

71 

FEMALE 

8 
5 
4 
5 
ii 

8 
5 
5 


TOTAL 

68 


34 

2 

I 

I 

II 

210 

TOTAL 
18 

\l 

19 
27 

13 

id 

18 
16 
ii 
18 
23 

210 


EPIDEMIC  DISEASES 


YEAR 


Cases 

RATE 
PER  I,OOO 
NUMBER      INHABITANTS 

.    4,744  6.5 

.    2,100  2.7 

2,448  3.1 

1916 2,739  34 

1917 2,691  3.3 

Decrease,  1913-1917,  43  percent. 

Increase,  1914-1917,  28  percent. 


1914- 


YEAR 

1913. 
1914. 


Deaths 

PERCENT  OF 
CASES  RESULTING 
NUMBER  IN  DEATHS 


2,788 


1916 1,559 

I9i7 688 

Death  rate,  1917,  0.85. 


62.6 
55-0 
56.7 
25.6 


AGE  GROUP 


26-30 4 

31-35 3 


AGES  OF  MIDWIVES 
1919 

NUMBER        AGE  GROUP 


NUMBER 


36-40. 
4I-45- 
46-50. 
51-55- 
56-6o. 


5 
10 
29 
29 
19 


61-65 27 

66-70 22 

71-75 14 

76-80 10 

81-85 5 

86-90 i 


Total 


178 


APPENDIX  V:  EDUCATION 

HIGHER  AND  LOWER  PRIMARY  SCHOOLS 
Exclusive  of  Mission  Schools 

IN  OUTSIDE 

NAME  <  CITY  CITY  TOTAL 

Public  higher  primaries 27  5               32 

Private  higher  primaries 9  9 

Public  lower  primaries 46  23               69 

Private  lower  primaries 63  62              125 

Bannermen  higher  primaries 8  8 

Bannermen   lower  primaries 13  .  —               13 

Police  half-day  schools 53  53 

Half-day  school  I  i 

Kindergarten   I  I 

Industrial  schools  (i  public,  I  private)..  2  —                 2 

Continuation  schools 3  —                3 

Continuation  commercial  schools 2  —                2 

Blind  schools i  I 

Girls'  public  higher  primaries 6  6 

Girls'  private  higher  primaries 5  i                 6 

Girls'  public  lower  primaries 6  6 

Girls'  private  lower  primaries 13  13 

Total  259  91  350 

Protestant  mission  and  Chinese  Independent  Church  schools,  68. 

HIGHER  PRIMARY  CURRICULUM 

FIRST  YEAR  SECOND  YEAR        THIRD  YEAR 

BOYS  BOYS  BOYS 

SUBJECT  HOURS  A  WEEK   HOURS  A  WEEK   HOURS  A  WEEK 

Chinese  ethics  2  2  2 

Classics    3  3  3 

Literature  10  8  8 

Arithmetic 444 

Chinese  history i  2  2 

Geography    I  2  2 

Physics  and  geography 2  2  2 

Handwork 222 

Drawing    2  2  2 

Music  2  2  2 

Athletic  drill 3  3  3 

Agriculture    —  2  2 

Family  affairs  2  4  4 

Foreign  languages  —  2  2 


Total 34  40  40 

the  s; 
jne  h 

420 


NOTE. — The  curriculum    for  girls  is  the  same  except  that  they  have  two  hours  a 
week  less  work  than  the  boys,  omitting  one  hour  of  handwork  and  one  of  drawing. 


EDUCATION 

MIDDLE  SCHOOL  CURRICULUM 

YEAR 

FIRST  SECOND  THIRD  FOURTH 

BOYS      GIRLS      BOYS      GIRLS      BOYS      GIRLS       BOYS      GIRLS 
HRS.  A  WEEK     HRS.  A  WEEK     HRS.  A  WEEK     HRS.  A  WEEK 
SUBJECT 

Chinese  ethics  i  i  i  i  i  I  i  i 

National  reader 7  7  7  6  5  5  5  5 

Foreign  languages  ...7  6  8  6  8  6  8  6 

History    2  2,  2  2.  2.  2  2  2 

Geography    2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2 

Arithmetic 54  54  53  43 

Nature  study 3  3  3  3  2  2 

Physics  and  chemistry  —  —  4444 

Political  economy —  —  —  —  2  2 

Drawing    i  i  i  I  i  i  2  I 

Manual  training I  I  I  I  I  i  I  I 

Family  affairs,  garden- 
ing      —  —  —  2  2  • —  2 

Sewing  —  2  —  2  2  2 

Music  i  i  I  I  i  i  i  i 

Athletic  drill  3  2  3  2  3  2  3  2 

Total    33        32         34        33          35        34         35        34 

CLIPPINGS  ON  EDUCATION  FROM  PEKING  NEWSPAPER, 

1905-1906 

1.  General  Cheng,  Consul  to  Peru,  suggests  that  family  temples,  gild 
halls,  and  also  the  residences  of  rich  citizens  should  be  thrown  open  for 
half-day  schools.    Those  who  do  not  have  money  should  get  their  relatives 
to  start  schools.    Provision  should  be  made  for  the  students  to  work  the 
other  half  day.    The  Board  of  Commerce  accepts  the  suggestion. 

2.  The   Board   of   Education  orders   a   careful   investigation   of   all 
schools  in  Chihli  Province.    At  present  there  are  130  schools  for  men  and 
25  for  girls.    (There  are  now  far  more  than  this  number  in  Peking  alone.) 

3.  In  former  times  the  education  of  China  held  out  to  the  people  only 
the  hope  that  they  should  learn  to  read  and  write,  but  now  that  has  been 
changed.    Not  only  do  we  wish  people  to  write  good  composition,  but  we 
want  them  to  be  capable  men.     Therefore  even  the  Chuang  Yuan  and 
Hanlin  want  to  study  this  real  knowledge  from  foreign  countries. 

4.  The  Government  proposes  the  increase  of  primary  schools  in  Pe- 
king, so  as  to  educate  all  children  over  12  years. 

5.  A  returned  student  from  Japan  is  to  establish  an  art  school  at  Liu 
Li  Ch'ang  to  teach  children  to  draw  maps  and  pictures. 

6.  The  Soldiers'  Training  Bureau  proposes  to  establish  schools  for 
the  elementary  instruction  of  soldiers.     Petty  officers  are  to  be  used  as 
teachers. 

7.  A  proposal  from  a  man  named  Chang  that  medical  colleges  with 
Chinese  and  foreign  teachers  be  established  throughout  China. 

8.  The  Board  of  Education  orders  that  all  students  who  are  too  old 
to  study  the  lessons  be  dismissed  from  schools.    In  the  future  no  student 
over  30  years  of  age  shall  be  admitted.     (This  throws  light  on  the  eager- 
ness of  the  old  scholars  to  absorb  western  learning.) 

9.  The  heads  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  sent  a  petition  to  the 
Emperor  stating  that  merchants  of  China,  because  of  their  lack  of  knowl- 


422 


PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


edge  of  commercial  law,  are  losing  much  trade.    A  commercial  law  school 
should  be  opened  in  Peking.    This  suggestion  was  accepted. 

10.  General  Sun  and  a  certain  duchess  petition  the  Government  for 
the  establishment  of  girls'  schools  in  Peking. 

11.  A  school  for  the  training  of  police  officers  is  to  be  opened. 

12.  Private  primary  schools  are  increasing  in  Peking.     This   is  of 
great  advantage  to  the  country,  but  they  should  not  use  the  name  of 
middle  schools  for  such  low-grade  work. 

13.  The  Pei  Yang  Military  School  is  only  of  middle  grade.    A  uni- 
versity for  training  soldiers  should  be  established. 

14.  A  suggestion  that  half-day  schools  should  be  opened  for  the  old 
and  poor  who  cannot  otherwise  learn. 

GENERAL  STATISTICS  ON  EDUCATION  IN  PEKING 
AND  CHINA 

1915-1916 

Translated  from  1917  Report  of  the  Minister  of  Education 
Primary  and  Middle  Schools 

EXPENSES 

EXPENSE  PER 

PER  STUDENT 

STUDENTS           EXPENSES          STUDENT  IN  CHINA 

21,073                $82,730               $3-93  $4-24 

4,030                171,782                42.63  24.91 

1,820                138,804                76.26  60.25 


TYPE  OF  SCHOOL         NUMBER 

Lower  primary 216 

Higher  primary 61 

Middle  12 


Institutions  of  Higher  Learning 


College  of  Finance  .. 

Medical  College  

Agricultural  College. . 

Industrial  schools 

Higher  Normal  College 
Government  University 

China  University 

Chung  Hua  University 


632 

166 

60 

194 

555 

1,333 

1,273 

207 


90,797 

81,498 

73,215 

370,793 

231,821 

391,696 

70,000 

191,297 


143.00 

491.00 

394-00 

343-00 

418.00 

294.00 

22.00 

72.00 


331-00 
297.00 
318.00 
362.00 


Total 


.299 


Students  in  Peking 

Under  the  Government: 
Boys  of  middle  grade... 
Boys  of  higher  grade 


4,940 


Total    

Girls  of  middle  grade.. 

Total  boys  and  girls . . 

Under  the  local  board : 
Middle  school  grade 

Higher  primary 

Other  primary 
Lower  primary 

Total  boys  and  girls. . . .  27,442 


3i,343       $1,894,433         $00.45        

Graduates    of    Schools    in    Peking 

Under  the  National  Board 

of  Education 

Normal   81 

Higher  normal  67 

Law    362 

Agriculture    60 

Technical    194 


University  preparatory 
University : 

Chinese  department   

Science  department , 

Technical  department  .... 

Other  departments   

Total    1,036 

Of   the   1,036  graduates   only  60 
were  women. 


189 

17 
17 
32 
17 


EDUCATION 


423 


Graduates    of    Schools    in    Peking 

Under  the  Local  Board  of 

Education 

Lower  primary 2,520 

Higher  primary  560 

Agricultural     and     industrial 

primaries    31 

Middle    , 


Normal  middle 
Other  middle 


Total 


114 
24 
29 


3,278 


Budget  of   the   Peking  Local 
Board  of  Education 


General  supervision: 
Salaries    $35,568 


ANNUAL 
AMT. 


Servants 


General  expenses : 

Stationery    

Postage , 

Equipment 
Miscellaneous    . 


i, 008 


1,368 


804 


$36,576 


2,868 


Monthly    Expenditure    for 
Schools,  etc. 

A.  Inspectors    $1,200 

B.  Middle  schools: 

Boys    5,800 

Girls    2,200 

8,000 

C.  Primary  schools: 

Boys'  lower  pri- 
mary    6,700 

Boys'  higher  and 
lower  primary 
(combined)  . . .  9,500 

Girls'  higher  and 
lower  primary 
(combined  in 
one  building)  . .  1,900 

Appren.   school. .      650 

Kindergarten 50 

Help  to  private 
schools  650 

19,450 

D.  Social  education : 

Lecture  halls  . . .      910 
Public    libraries.       270 
Half-day  schools      290 
Newspaper  read- 
ing   rooms ....        30 


1,500 


Total   $30,150 


Students  in  China 

SCHOOL                                                                        BOYS  GIRLS         GRAND  TOTAL 

Lower  primary   3,551,099  149,505 

Higher  primary  367,629  18,729 

Other   primary    49,850  3,254 

Middle  schools   116,994  9,46i 

Higher  schools  27,730 

Total    4,113,302  180,949           4,294,251 

CURRICULUM  OF  APPRENTICE  SCHOOL 


Mechanical  Department 


FIRST 
YEAR 
HRS.  A 
SUBJECT  WEEK 

Ethics  I 

National  reader.  2 

English  2 

Arithmetic  3 

Physics  an  d 

chemistry 3 

Drawing  6 

Principles  of 

mechanics. .. .  — 


SECOND  THIRD 

YEAR  YEAR 

HRS.  A  HRS.  A 

WEEK  WEEK 

I  — 

o  

3 

3  2 


FIRST 
YEAR 
HRS.  A 
SUBJECT  WEEK 

Study  of  materi- 
als used I 

Mechanical  draw- 
ing   — 

Physical  exercise  I 

Shop  practice. .  .20 


SECOND  THIRD 
YEAR  YEAR 
HRS.  A  HRS.  A 
WEEK  WEEK 


—  Total 


•  39 


39 


4 
36 

42 


424 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


CURRICULUM   OF  APPRENTICE  SCHOOL   (Continued) 


Carpentry  Department 

FIRST     SECOND    THIRD 

YEAR         YEAR       YEAR 

HRS.  A     HRS.  A    HRS.  A 

'      SUBJECT  WEEK      WEEK      WEEK 

Ethics    I 

National  reader.  2 

English    2 

Arithmetic   3 

Physics    and 
chemistry    3 

Drawing  and  de- 
signing     6 

Study  of  materi- 
als used I 

Physical  exercise  I 

Shop  practice  . .  .20 
Total    39 


WEEK 
I 
2 

3 
3 


Electroplating  Department 

FIRST   SECOND     THIRD 
YEAR       YEAR       YEAR 
HRS.   A  HRS.  A    HRS.   A 
SUBJECT  WEEK   WEEK      WEEK 


I         — 


39 


42 


Ethics    i  I          — 

National  reader.  2  2 

English    2  3 

Arithmetic    3  3           2 

Physics    and 

chemistry    3  —         — 

Applied    chem- 
istry   —  4 

Drawing  and  de- 
signing   6  4           4 

Physical  exercise  I  I          — 

Shop  practice.  ..21      2£      36 

Total    39  39          42 

LECTURE  HALLS 

LECTURE  HALL  SEATING  CAPACITY 

1    107 

2  245 

3  162 

4    122 

5  116 

6  69 

8 104 

9  136 

10  132 

Model  lecture  hall  450 

Outside  North  City  wall  104 

Outside  East  City  wall 100 

Outside  South  City  wall  66 

Total  1,913 

Average   147 

Number  and  Character  of  Average  Daily  Attendance 
AVERAGE 

DAILY  STU-        CIVIL 

LECTURE  HALL  ATTENDANCE  MERCHANTS  DENTS  OFFICIALS  LABORERS  SOLDIERS 


No.    i  55  a 

2 90  a 

3 ioo  a 

4 60  b 

5  70  a 

6 50  a 

8 60  a 

9 ioo  a 

10 ioo  a 

Model  300  a 

North  City 45  a 

East  City   55 

South  City 30  a 

Total   1,005 

Average  77 

a    Generally  present. 
b     Occasionally  present 


EDUCATION  425 

LECTURE  HALLS    (Continued) 

Subjects  Discussed 

Political  subjects   (National  and  International)  : 

The  European  War,  its  purpose,  aim,  demonstration  of  the  power 

of  right  over  might 15 

The  real  meaning  of  freedom  and  equality 4 

Importance  of  knowing  world  affairs  3 

The  duties  of  citizenship   3 

What  constitutes  a  country  2 

Democracy,  its  true  meaning ^ 2 

The  political  organization  of  Germany  and  its  results  

The  relation  between  the  European  War  and  our  livelihood 

The  European  War  and  industry  

How  shall  we  protect  ourselves  from  the  enemy  ? 

Become  a  soldier  

The  Glory  of  China  

The  relation  of  the  people  to  the  country 

The  people  should  know  the  condition  of  their  own  country 

37 

Education : 

Education  including  explanation  of  the  school  system,  the  need  of 
public  education,  purpose  of  lecture  hall,  etc 24 

Morality,  friendship,  right  relations: 

Public  morality 18 

The  relation  of  obeying  laws  to  morality n 

Truth,  personal  honesty,  the  relation  of  truth  to  right  action 6 

Independence  of  spirit,  self-support  5 

Public  spirit 4 

Courtesy  and  kindness  4 

Patriotism  3 

Personal  virtue   3 

Save  your  money  2 

The  obligation  to  pay  taxes  2 

The  value  of  a  good  reputation  2 

Love  between  brothers,  pride,  diligence — each   2 

Honesty,  self-reliance,  endurance,  cooperation,  duty — each 

Courage,  filial  piety,  friendship — each 

How  to  obtain  peace  in  the  heart 

Virtue  versus  covetousness 

Do  not  covet  money 

The  duty  of  the  people 

Westerners  have  public  spirit,  but  Chinese  have  only  private  mor- 
ality   

The  lethargy  of  our  people  

The  importance  of  early  rising  

The  evil,  hard  hearts  of  students 

72 
Science : 

Popular  science.    Biology  and  the  greatest  and  smallest  animals  . .      3 
Snow i 


426  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

LECTURE  HALLS   (Continued) 

Economics,  industrial  and  commercial: 

Buy  national  goods   6 

Development  of  industry 3 

How  to  make  a  living 2 

Biography  of  great  merchants 2 

The  relation  of  the  standard  of  living  to  present  conditions 2 

Cotton  planting 

The  development  of  agriculture  and  commerce  

How  to  raise  chickens  

Relation  of  the  weather  to  agricultural  production 

The  ricksha  man  

Confidence,  the  secret  of  becoming  wealthy 

21 

Physical  health  and  hygiene: 

Hygiene,  public  and  private 9 

Physical  training  and  education  7 

Physiology    2 

The  plague   I 

The  human  brain i 

20 

Household  education,  the  home: 

Household  education,  the  relation  of  cleanliness  to  good  house- 
keeping    4 

Right  relations  within  the  family 2 

Education  for  mothers  2 

Virtuous  mothers    I 

The  raising  of  children I 

Household  education   I 

ii 

General  and  historical: 

Chinese  history 6 

Comparisons  between  William  II  and  Napoleon  the  Great I 

The  plague i 

8 

Social  reform : 

The  power  of  evil  habits 6 

Reform  of  social  customs 5 

Abolish  smoking,  the  evil  of  cigarettes  4 

The  dangers  of  luxury 4 

Against  opium    2 

Against  gambling  

Abolish  foot  binding  

Beware  of  the  kidnaper   

Against  the  counterfeiter  

Don't  steal  

Devils  (Kuei)     

The  abolition  of  superstition 

28 


EDUCATION  427 

LECTURE  HALLS   (Continued) 
Monthly  Budgets 

LECTURE  HAIX 


2  ...................................        60 

3  ...................................  50 

4  ...................................  59 

5  ...................................  So 

6  ...................................  69 

8  ...................................      56 

9  ...................................       7* 

10  ...................................      60 

Outside  East  City  ........................  41 

Outside  South  City  ......................  .  39 

Outside  North  City  .......................  41 

The  average  expenses  per  month  .........  $54 

Number  and  Character  of  Books  in  Lecture  Hall  Reading  Rooms 

POLrn- 

HISTORY        CAL 

NOVELS,       GENERAL       AND        SCIENCE, 

STORIES,        EDUCA-       GEOG-   LAW,  ECO-       IN-  AS- 

NO.    MAGAZINES    CATION      RAPHY     NOMICS    DUSTRY    ESSAYS    TRONOMY    TOTAL 

1.  .  123  17  16  12  168 

2.  .  69  49  21  10  149 

3.  .  63  92  25  10  190 

4.  .  60  130  50  40  18  298 

5.  .  287  195  46  74  12  614 


6. 
8. 

9- 
10. 


.No  report 
.No  report 


115  8  16  8  147 

18  29  9  28          17  18  7  126 


Total..  666          515         204         195         87  18  7         1,692 

Average  Daily  Attendance  in  Lecture  Hall  Libraries  and  Reading  Rooms 

NEWSPAPER 
LECTURE  HALL  LIBRARY  READING  ROOM 

1    55  loo 

2     00  100 

3    10  no  data 

4    55  no  data 

5    30  no  data 

6    30 

8   30 

9    60 

10    55 

Outside  East  City  6  75 

Outside  South  City 30  45 

Outside  North  City  25  55 

Total    446 

The  average  daily  attendance  in  each  library  is  37. 


428  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

LECTURE  HALLS    (Continued) 
Library  of  Model  Lecture  Hall 

KIND  NUMBER  OF  COPIES 

Popular  education  200 

Novels 141 

Educational    100 

Biography    62 

Classics   36 

Hygiene   20 

Lectures    20 

Short  novels   16 

Travel    15 

Industrial  books  12 

Economics    5 

Magazines   130 

Newspapers 66 

Total   823 

SOCIAL  EDUCATION 
1916  Statistics  for  Metropoliatn  District1 

METROPOLITAN 

DISTRICT  WHOLE  COUNTRY 

Old  style  libraries 2  25 

Books  95,089  ( 16  libraries 

reporting) 

Annual  expenditures  $10,000  $23,416 

Readers,  yearly  3,443  109,903 

New  style  libraries i  238 

Books   1,400  71,800 

Annual  expenditures  $8,000  $56,756 

Readers    246,300  2,718,910 

Museums  i  8 

Newspaper  rooms  19  1,817 

Newspapers    22  10 

Average  attendance  40  35 

Lecture  halls  17  2,139 

Average  attendance   113  34 

Social  education  societies 3  189 

1  Translated  from  1917  report  of  Board  of  Education. 

PLATFORM   OF  RENAISSANCE   OR   NEW   INTELLECTUAL 
MOVEMENT  IN  CHINA 

I.    Aim :     To  re-make  civilization  : 

Because  of  our  desire  to  re-make  civilization  we  therefore  should 
emphasize : 

1.  Democracy. 

2.  Science. 

By  means  of  democracy  and  science  China  can  be  saved  and  properly 
controlled.  Moreover,  because  government,  morality,  learning,  and  intel- 
lectual life  are  in  a  very  decadent  condition,  democracy  must  oppose 
Confucianism,  ceremonialism,  the  old  conservative  viewpoint  on  morality, 
and  old  forms  of  Government. 


EDUCATION  429 

In  order  to  preserve  modern  science  we  must  stand  opposed  to  former 
technical  arts  and  ancient  religions. 

In  order  to  preserve  morality,  democracy  and  science  we  must  oppose 
fixed  national  traditions  and  the  old  literary  style  of  composition. 

II.  Attitude:    The  critical  attitude. 

This  attitude  is  a  new  one.     Such  an  attitude  considers  and  fixes 
properly  all  values.    It  aims  at  the  "transyaluation  of  values." 
The  things  especially  emphasized  in  this  critical  attitude  are : 

1.  In  regard  to  the  attitude  towards  customs,  the  question  to  be 

answered  is,  "Does  the  maintenance  of  this  custom  have 
value  for  society?"  (Valueless  customs  should  be  discarded 
or  transformed.) 

2.  In  regard  to  the  teachings  of  Confucius  the  important  question 

is,  "Is  any  particular  teaching  of  value  for  this  present  age, 
or  not?" 

3.  Regarding   foolish   and  generally  accepted   methods   of   pro- 

cedure and  beliefs,  we  wish  to  ask,  "Because  certain  customs 
are  approved  are  they  therefore  good?"  "Because  men  act 
in  a  certain  way  am  I  to  act  in  that  certain  way?"  "Does  it 
not  seem  possible  that  there  are  ways  of  activity  other  than 
these  that  are  even  more  beneficial?" 

4.  Regarding    old    Chinese    learning   and   thought,    our   attitude 

should  also  be  the  critical  attitude. 

(a)  Opposition  to  blindness. 

(b)  Opposition  to  intrigue  and  indirection. 

(c)  The  reconstruction  of  old  national  customs. 
There  are  three  steps  in  reconstructing  national  affairs : 

(1)  Careful  arrangement  and  systematization  of  these  former 

customs. 

(2)  Careful  investigation  of  each  theory  and  ideas  as  to  what 

influence  it  would  have  if  promoted. 

(3)  Use  of  the  scientific  method  of  exact  and  careful  investiga- 

tion. 

III.  The  problems  of  investigation. 

1.  Social. 

Social  reconstruction,  emancipation  of  women,  emancipation  of 
men,  purity,  Confucianism,  educational  reform,  marriage,  the  rela- 
tion of  father  and  son,  economic  problems,  labor  problems. 

2.  Governmental. 

The  rule  by  the  people,  anarchy,  internationalism. 

3.  Religious. 

Confucianism,  faith  and  belief,  morality. 

4.  Literary. 

The  literary  revolution,  the  problem  of  the  national  spoken 
language,  novels,  the  language  of  other  nations,  the  abolition  of  the 
use  of  ancient  Chinese  literature,  the  theater. 

IV.  Methods  of  introducing  these  new  theories. 

The  following  list  of  names  are  given  as  those  from  whose  writings 
valuable  thoughts  could  be  translated  to  guide  this  New  Thought  Move- 
Karl  Marx  Tolstoy 
T.  F.  Wilcox  Bertrand  Russell 
John  Dewey  Kropotkin 
Haeckel  Bakunin 
James  Lenin 


APPENDIX  VI :  COMMERCIAL  LIFE 
GILD  MEMBERSHIP 


i 


NAME  OF  GILD  §  g 

5o  < 

Barbers  380 

Blind  

Bone  and  horn 

Colored  bone  20 

Toothbrush   40 

Comb  workers * 

Shoe  horn  * 

Spectacle  frame ••    x 

Tongue  scrapers  * 

Butchers  

Pig  150 

Sheep 170 

Carpet  68 

Coal  

Wholesale 60 

Retail  3,ioo 

Confectioners  50 

Cooks    

Drugs    180 

Dyeing    

Cotton 10 

Silk    30 

Fertilizer    900 

Fur    300 

Gold  foil  beaters 15 

Hat no 

Incense  and  cosmetics 403 

Jade 430 

Paper-hangers    . : 1,018 

Painters    40 

Pawnbrokers  7° 

Shoemakers  i>3OO 

Smelters  10 

Soap 

Wholesale    14 

Retail So 

Tailors    2,500 

Undertakers 240 

Water-carriers 300 

1  Store-keepers  and  laborers  included  together. 
a  Workers  and   apprentices  included  together. 

430 


2,270 

820 

1,000 



150 

50 

210 

80 

401 

10 

So1 

IO 

100  * 

45 

901 

30 

600 

200 

2,670 

650 

2,500 

2,500 

650 

300 

12,000 

3,000 

670 

180 

4,700 

1,600 

3,370 

I,IOO 

720 

80 

2,780 

420 

4,100 



1,700 

2,500 

100 

50 

1,540 

360 

2,IOO 

290 

800 

5,300 

2,700 

I,OOO 

360 

1,400 

200 

800 

400 

125 

40 

!64 

~6o 

760 

240 

13,300 

5,5oo 

1,240 

320 

2,200 



3,470    2.8 
1,000 

925    — 


-  5 

-  2.2 

-  3 

4,440 


5,o68 
19,110 


900 
6,300 
4,650 
4,040 


5,ooo 

4,500 

165 

2,010 

2,793 
1,230 
9,018 
1,400 
1,670 
2,500 

175 
1,288 


21,300 
i, 800 
2,500 


2.2 

4 

3-7 

2.9 

3 


0.7 

2 

4-3 

7.2 

2 

2.8 

7 

2 

3-1 

2.7 
3.2 

2.4 
3.9 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  431 

GILD  WAGES 
The  Comparison  of  Present  Day  Wages  with  Those  of  the  Past 


PRESENT 

PERCENT 

NAME 

YEARS  AGO 

PAST  WAGES 

WAGES 

INCREASE 

Barbers  

SO 

$3.00 

$5.0O-IO.OO 

65-230 

Bone  and  horn  

25 

4.OO-I2.OO 

6.OO-I8.OO 

50 

Butchers,  pig  

30 

2.OO 

3.00-  4.50 

50-125 

Butchers,  sheep  

Olden  Time 

2.50 

3.50-  6.00 

4O-I4O 

Carpet    

3 

7.OO-2O.OO 

4-50 

*35-  75 

Coal  

Olden  Time 

2.00-  3.50 

3.00-   4.00 

15-  50 

Confectioners  

30 

2.OO-   3.OO 

3.50 

18-  75 

Cooks   

25 

35c.  a  day 

6oc.  a  day 

70 

Drugs  

30 

3  Tls. 

4-6  Tls. 

35-100 

Dyeing  

30 

2.50 

4.50 

80 

Fertilizer  

50 

3.00-  3.50 

6.00 

70-100 

Gold  foil  

30 

Piece  Work 

Piece  Work 

40 

Hat  

30 

3-00 

4.00-  5.00 

33-66 

Incense  and  cosmetic. 

30 

1.20 

2.50 

no 

72c.-2.oo)  a 

TOO 

Jade  

15 

Piece  Work 

4.00-5.00)  day 

IOO 

Paper-hangers  

No   Report 

No  Report 

57C.-87C.  a  day 



Painters  

25 

40c.  a  day 

65c.  a  day 

60 

Pawn  brokers  

Olden  Time 

4  Tls. 

4-7  Tls. 

o-  75 

Shoemakers    

30 

2.00-  3.00 

3.50-  5.00 

70 

Smelters    

25 

3-8  Tls. 

5-15  Tls. 

65-85 

Soap   

30 

4.15 

6.00 

.  45 

Tailors  

25 

6oc.  piece  wk. 

i.oo  piece  wk. 

65 

Undertakers  

30 

3.00-  4.00 

3.00-  6.00 

o-  50 

Water-carriers  

30 

2.25 

3.00-  4.00 

35-  75 

1  Decrease. 

HISTORY  AND  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  BARBERS  GILD 

I.  The  barbers  recognize  Lo  Tsu,  an  official  of  the  Ming  Dynasty,  as 
the  founder  of  their  craft.  Of  him,  the  book  "Ching  Fa  Hsu"  tells  this 
story : 

"Once  upon  a  time  during  the  Ming  Dynasty,  the  Mongols  invaded 
China  and  captured  the  capital,  Peking.  They  almost  captured  the 
Emperor,  but  after  many  difficulties  he  managed  to  escape.  He  and  his 
men  were  forced  to  leave  the  capital  and  fled  toward  Li  Yang,  closely 
pursued  by  the  Mongols.  On  their  way,  the  Emperor  and  his  party  came 
to  a  deep,  broad,  swift  river  that  they  could  not  cross  as  there  were  no 
boats  near  by.  Just  as  it  seemed  inevitable  that  the  Emperor  would  be 
captured,  Lo  Tsu  devised  a  plan  that  saved  him.  He  cut  the  hair  from 
half  of  the  Emperor's  head,  and  braided  the  rest  into  a  cue,  the  style  of 
hair  dressing  used  only  by  the  Manchus  at  that  time.  The  Chinese  fastened 
their  hair  on  the  top  of  their  heads.  Then  the  Emperor  was  dressed  in 
Manchu  clothes  while  one  of  his  men  put  on  the  imperial  robes.  When 
the  Mongols  came  up,  they  captured  the  false  emperor  and  many  high 
officials,  but  the  real  Emperor  escaped  as  they  thought  he  was  a  Manchu 
and  an  outsider. 

"The  Emperor  was  in  such  great  danger  because  the  Mongols  came  in 
so  suddenly  that  the  generals  and  soldiers  of  the  Emperor  did  not  have 
time  to  form  to  protect  him.  As  soon  as  they  heard  of  the  invasion, 
they  quickly  pursued  the  Mongols,  and  took  from  them  the  prisoners  and 
booty  that  they  had  captured. 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

"After  the  Mongols  had  gone,  the  Emperor  returned  to  the  capital, 
and,  when  order  had  been  restored,  he  wanted  the  people  to  adopt  the 
style  of  hair  dressing  that  had  saved  him  from  capture.  Imperial  man- 
dates were  issued  and  many  barbers  were  employed  to  cut  the  people's 
hair  and  braid  their  cues.  None  of  the  people  were  allowed  to  refuse 
to  have  part  of  their  hair  cut  or  to  go  without  a  cue. 

"Obviously,  before  this  time,  the  work  of  a  barber  had  not  been  a 
regular  calling,  but  afterwards  when  the  people  must  have  their  hair  cut 
and  wear  cues,  it  developed  into  a  recognized  craft.  Lo  Tsu  was  the  man 
who  was  responsible  for  the  development  of  the  barbers'  trade,  so  the 
barbers  look  upon  him  as  the  founder  of  their  calling  and  worship  him." 

As  far  as  available  records  now  show,  the  Barbers  Gild  was  first 
organized  in  1846.  The  head  barber  of  the  Emperor  was  chosen  as  the 
head  of  the  gild,  and  sub-officers  were  elected,  one  for  every  thirty  shops 
in  the  city.  The  sub-officers  were  ordinary  barbers  and  were  elected  by 
the  vote  of  the  shops  they  represented.  During  the  period  of  greatest 
prosperity,  there  were  over  i,oop  barber  shops  in  Peking.  Forty-eight 
were  located  inside  of  the  Forbidden  City,  and  used  exclusively  by  the 
members  of  the  Imperial  Court. 

When  the  Manchus  were  overthrown  in  1912,  the  Chinese  cut  off  their 
cues ;  for  it  was  the  Manchus  and  not  the  Ming  or  Chinese  Emperor  as 
told  in  the  story  of  Lo  Tsu,  who  forced  them  to  wear  the  cue.  Conse- 
quently, the  barbers  had  little  or  no  business.  Many  of  them  were  on  the 
verge  of  bankruptcy,  and  as  they  could  not  contribute  enough  to  main- 
tain the  gild,  the  organization  was  forced  to  dissolve. 

Within  two  years,  most  of  the  barbers  had  learned  to  cut  hair  accord- 
ing to  the  new  style;  but  with  no  gild  to  maintain  prices  or  to  establish 
rules  for  the  work,  they  found  that  competition  was  making  it  almost 
impossible  for  them  to  earn  a  living.  In  1914,  they  reorganized  the  gild. 
All  members  are  eligible  to  be  officers  of  the  gild,  and  all  have  the  right 
to  vote  for  such  officers. 

The  business  of  the  new  gild  is  carried  on  by  a  president,  vice-president 
and  a  board  of  directors,  who  serve  without  pay.  The  routine  work  of  the 
gild  is  done  by  a  secretary,  a  treasurer,  a  bookkeeper  and  two  servants, 
who  are  paid  by  the  gild.  The  officers  are  elected  for  a  one  year  term 
at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  gild,  held  on  July  I3th.  This  is  the  great 
holiday  of  the  barbers,  for  then  they  have  a  feast  and  a  theatrical  play 
in  the  gild  hall.  They  also  offer  incense  and  worship  to  the  founder  of 
the  craft,  Lo  Tsu,  and  receive  into  membership  those  who  have  opened 
new  stores  or  who  have  completed  their  apprenticeship  during  the  past 
year.  The  membership  of  the  gild  at  present  is : 

Store-keepers   380 

Workers   1,720 

Itinerant  barbers 550 

Apprentices   820 

So  the  Chinese  say,  that  the  barber's  business  is  almost  as  prosperous 
now  as  it  was  before  the  Revolution. 

At  the  present  time,  the  ordinary  workers  in  the  barber  shops  receive 
from  $5  to  $10  per  month  and  their  board  and  lodging.  The  very  best  of 
the  men  are  paid  as  high  as  $15  or  $16  a  month. 

The  expenses  of  the  gild  are  met  by  monthly  contributions  from  the 
store-keepers  and  workers.  Every  store  contributes  12  coppers  a  month 
or  2  coppers  every  5  days,  while  every  worker  pays  6  coppers  a  month  or 
i  copper  every  5  days.  The  expenses  of  the  annual  celebration  are  met  by 
the  contributions  of  those  who  attend.  A  store-keeper  pays  40  coppers 
while  a  worker  pays  20.  The  income  of  the  gild  is  augmented  by  money 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  433 

received  for  the  use  of  the  property  of  the  gild,  rent  for  rooms  in  the 
gild  hall,  etc. 

Those  who  would  learn  the  barber's  trade  are  required  to  serve  an 
apprenticeship  of  three  years,  after  which  they  are  received  into  member- 
ship in  the  gild  and  are  allowed  to  work  wherever  they  can  find  employ- 
ment 

The  rules  and  regulations  that  follow,  give  the  steps  in  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  gild,  show  its  organization  and  aims,  and  give  an  outline  of 
the  relief  work  done  by  the  gild. 

THE  RULES  OF  THE  REORGANIZED  BARBERS  GILD 

Our  organization  was  founded  in  the  year  Ping  Wu  (1846)  and  was 
not  only  successful  but  was  approved  by  the  members  of  other  organ- 
izations. Our  business,  however,  was  so  greatly  affected  by  the  change 
in  the  government  (1911-1912)  that  the  income  of  the  gild  was  not  suffi- 
cient to  pay  its  running  expenses,  and  the  gild  organization  had  to  be 
suspended  at  that  time. 

Now,  however,  our  business  is  getting  better  and  better  and  is  almost 
as  prosperous  as  it  was  in  the  olden  days.  There  are  two  things  that  we 
must  look  out  for  now,  competition  and  the  cutting  of  prices.  Some  of 
the  stores  have  been  cutting  prices  on  monthly  contracts  and  regular  work, 
hoping  thereby  to  increase  their  business.  This  has  caused  a  great  deal 
of  trouble  between  some  of  our  members.  In  fact,  it  has  led  to  fighting 
and  death.  The  manager  of  one  of  the  shops  on  Mo  Chang  Hut'ung  killed 
one  of  his  neighbors  in  a  fight  over  business. 

Conditions  have  been  so  bad  that  recently  many  of  the  older  members 
of  the  gild  have  asked  that  the  gild  be  reestablished  so  that  the  rules  of 
the  organization  may  be  enforced  and  further  trouble  prevented.  As 
this  idea  seemed  acceptable  to  so  many,  the  members  of  the  old  gild  were 
summoned  to  meet  in  the  gild  hall  to  discuss  ways  and  means  of  reor- 
ganizing. It  was  the  unanimous  opinion  of  those  present  at  the  meeting 
that  the  gild  should  be  reestablished,  for  without  the  gild  there  is  no  way 
of  enforcing  the  rules  and  preventing  trouble. 

In  this  meeting,  twelve  rules  were  adopted  which  read  as  follows : 

1.  The  Association  works   for  righteousness,  and   follows   the  rules 
which  have  been  posted  by  the  members. 

2.  Any  member  of  the  Board  of  Directors  who  does  not  come  to  a 
meeting  after  he  has  seen  the  double  sealed  notice,  or  does  not  come  at 
the  proper  time,  will  be  heavily  fined. 

3.  An  employee  is  not  allowed  to  take  business  away  from  the  store 
where  he  worked,  nor  can  he  persuade  customers  to  go  to  another  shop 
for  a  while,  and  then  in  a  few  days  leave  the  shop  himself  and  go  and 
take  over  the  work  of  the  customers  he  has  persuaded  to  leave.     If  any 
member  is  found  doing  this,  or  if  a  case  is  reported  by  some  of  the 
members,  the  gild  will  not  only  fine  the  offending  member  according  to 
the  amount  of  business  he  has  done,  but  it  will  not  allow  him  to  keep  his 
customers.    This  rule  also  applies  to  apprentices. 

4.  If  a  regular  customer  of  store  "A,"  provoked  by  an  employee  of 
"A,"  goes  to  shop  "B,"  and  wants  to  bargain  with  the  owner  and  fix  a 
price  for  his  work,  "B"  must  find  out  why  the  customer  has  left  "A,"  and 
also  what  price  "A"  charged  him.    "B"  is  not  allowed  to  take  the  business 
at  the  price  charged  by  "A."    He  must  charge  10  percent  more  than  "A." 
If  "B"  takes  over  the  work  at  the  same  price,  the  gild  will  fine  him  a  large 
sum  of  money. 

5.  All  the  workers  in  a  store  must  not  stop  work  the  same  day.    If 
they  have  an  important  matter  to  attend  to  on  some  special  day,  they 


434  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

should  give  some  notice  to  the  store-keeper.  If  they  want  to  leave,  they 
must  give  three  days'  notice  to  the  store-keeper  so  he  may  have  time  to 
look  for  other  workers. 

6.  If  an  apprentice,  who  has  not  graduated  according  to  the  terms 
of  his  apprenticeship,  gives  up  his  work  without  good  reason,  the  gild  will 
not  allow  him  to  remain  in  the  organization  and  will  insist  that  he  pay 
back  to  his  master  the  cost  of  his  room  and  board. 

7.  The  gild  will  start  its  work  again  on  the  first  of  October  of  the 
second  year  of  the  Republic.    Each  store-keeper  will  pay  six  cents  per 
month  toward  the  expense  of  the  gild.    The  workers  will  not  pay  until 
the  success  of  the  gild  is  assured. 

8.  Membership  cards  in  the  reorganized  gild  will  be  issued  at  the 
gild  hall  on  October  ist.    Every  store-keeper  and  worker  must  pay  ten 
cents   for   his   card,   while   apprentices   must  pay  five   cents    for   theirs. 
Double  rates  will  be  charged  those  who  do  not  get  their  cards  before  the 
30th  of  October. 

9.  No  member  is  allowed  to  secretly  use  the  income  of  the  gild  for 
his  own  benefit.    If  any  member  violates  this  rule,  he  will  receive  a  heavy 
fine. 

10.  If  any  store-keeper  has  trouble  with  his  workers  or  apprentices, 
he  must  not  take  the  case  to  court,  but  must  first  let  the  gild  hear  the  case. 
If  the  gild  cannot  settle  the  trouble,  it  will  allow  him  to  take  the  case 
before  a  public  officer. 

11.  Whenever  a  worker  steals  anything  from  a  store  and  runs  away, 
the  store  owner  must  report  the  matter  to  the  gild  at  once,  whether  it  is 
day  or  night,  giving  the  worker's  name,  age  and  birth-place.    The  gild 
will  notify  all  members  and  forbid  them  to  employ  the  offending  man  in 
their  store. 

12.  The  gild  will  not  open  a  house  for  the  poor,  old  and  sick  members 
at  present.    If  any  poor  workers  or  apprentices  die,  their  membership 
cards  may  be  brought  to  the  gild  and  a  coffin  will  be  given. 

The  members  must  be  careful  to  keep  these  rules.  They  must  be  posted 
where  they  can  be  seen.  If  any  one  tears  this  Notice  to  pieces,  he  will 
be  fined  a  sum  of  money  by  the  gild. 

REVISED  REGULATIONS  OF  THE  BARBERS  GILD 
3rd  Year  of  the  Republic  (1914) 

Introduction : 

All  the  occupations  of  the  world,  scholars,  farmers,  laborers  and 
merchants  were  taught  by  their  original  teachers  whom  we  must  not 
forget.  The  barbers  must  remember  that  our  original  teacher  is  our 
Ancestor  Lo,  and  that  it  was  he  who  first  taught  this  livelihood.  In  the 
beginning,  this  gild  was  conducted  and  managed  by  his  old  apprentices 
and  produced  good  results,  but  now  our  gild  is  without  order  and  its 
regulations  are  not  well  kept.  The  burning  of  incense  on  the  altar  of  our 
original  teacher  has  almost  stopped.  This  obviously  shows  that  we 
have  neglected  our  original  teacher.  This  is  a  discredit  to  us.  Further- 
more, many  of  our  calling  are  slow  and  unskillful  and  consequently, 
because  of  competition,  are  out  of  occupation  and  are  starving.  Now, 
some  of  the  fine  men  of  our  calling  think  that  this  is  absolutely  contrary 
to  the  fundamental  advice  of  our  original  teacher,  and  so  invited  the 
heads  of  all  the  barber  shops  to  a  meeting  where  they  piously  discussed 
and  revised  the  regulations  of  the  gild.  In  was  decided  that  we  shall  offer 
as  a  sacrifice  to  our  original  teacher  a  theatrical  play  once  a  year,  that 
we  shall  pay  any  other  necessary  incense  expenses,  and  that  a  petition, 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  435 


showing  the  condition  of  our  hearts,  shall  be  burned  before  the  altar 
annually. 

The   revised   regulations,   which   were  discussed  and   revised  by  our 
leading  men,  consist  of  12  articles  as  follows: 

(1)  When  any  leading  man  of   our  gild  passes  away,  and  has  no 
relative  to  continue  his  business,  it  should  be  reported  to  the  gild  so  that 
he  may  be  buried  at  the  expense  of  the  gild.     The  gild  will  then  appoint 
some  one  else  to  continue  his  business,  so  that  the  gild  may  recover  the 
money  spent  for  his  funeral.     In  case  the  man  who  has  been  buried  by 
the  gild  does  not  own  his  own  business  but  carries  on  a  business  for  some 
proprietor,  the  latter  may  redeem  his  business  by  paying  to  the  gild  the 
amount  of  money  spent  for  the  funeral  of  his  manager.    In  this  case, 
there  will  be  no  fine  on  either  side. 

(2)  The  gild  has  its  annual  income  to  meet  its  various  expenses.    No 
member  of  the  gild  is  allowed  to  use  this  money  for  himself.     If  any  one 
violates  this  Article,  his  case  must  be  discussed  by  the  gild,  so  he  may  be 
fined  according  to  the  amount  of  money  he  has  taken.    It  is  hoped  that 
this  Article  will  be  respected  by  all  members  of  the  gild,  from  the  presi- 
dent down. 

(3)  Members  of  the  gild  who  are  taken  very  sick  and  have  no  fami- 
lies or  friends  to  look  after  them  can  be  reported  to  the  gild.     If  there 
are  conclusive  evidences  concerning  their  sickness,  the  gild  will  pay  for 
their  medicine  and  hospital  care.    If  the  disease  is  venereal,  the  gild  will 
accept  no  responsibility. 

(4)  Any  one  of  our  calling,  desiring  to  become  a  member  of  the  gild, 
must  offer  before  the  altar  a  certain  sum  of  money  to  the  treasurer  for 
the  expenses  of  the  gild. 

(5)  When  some  one  of  our  calling  but  not  a  member  of  the  gild 
takes  away  some  of  our  customers,  our  members  must  not  quarrel  with 
him.     Whenever  the  gild  finds  conclusive  evidence  against  a  member  that 
he  has  violated  this  rule,  it  will  fine  him. 

(6)  Quarrels  between  some  of  our  shops  or  some  of  our  members 
employed  in  our  shops  must  be  discussed  and  judged  by  the  gild.     Mem- 
bers are  not  allowed  to  start  lawsuits  until  the  case  has  been  heard  by  the 
gild. 

(7)  When  the  customer  of  one  of  our  shops  goes  to  another  shop, 
the  pay  that  the  latter  receives  must  be  higher  than  that  received  by  the 
former.    If  the  latter  takes  the  same  pay,  he  will  be  fined  an  amount 
equal  to  what  he  would  receive  from  the  customer   for  three  months' 
work. 

(8)  If  a  member  of  our  gild  who  is  employed  in  some  of  our  shops 
persuades   the   shop's   regular  customers  to   stop   dealing  with  the   shop, 
while  he  selfishly  and  privately  works  for  them  and  earns  the  money  for 
himself,  he  will  be  fined  an  amount  equal  to  three  months'  wages. 

(9)  If  an  apprentice  of  one  of   our  shops  goes  to  another  of  our 
shops  without  his  teacher's  consent,  the  gild  must  be  informed  so  that 
it  may  send  the  apprentice  back  to  his  master.     If,  however,  the  shop- 
keeper employs  the  apprentice  without  telling  the  gild,  he  shall  be  severely 
fined. 

(10)  If  a  member  of  our  gild  organizes  a  new  shop,  either  with  his 
own  capital  or  the  capital  of  some  proprietor,  he  must  state  to  the  gild 
the  location  of  the  shop  and  have  it  registered  in   the  gild.     He  must 
pay  to  the  gild  one  tael  for  incense  expenses.     If  he  wishes  to  board 
in   the   gild   hall   his   men   must   take   their   turn   in    doing   the   kitchen 
work. 

(n)     If  members  of  our  gild  quarrel  with  men  of  our  calling  not  in 
our  gild,  because  of  the  regulations  of  our  gild,  and  if  the  latter  extremely 


436  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

insult  our  members,  it  must  be  reported  to  the  gild  so  that  some  means 
may  be  devised  to  settle  the  disagreement. 

(12)  At  the  time  of  holding  a  meeting,  the  head  man  of  the  gild  will 
set  a  definite  time  for  the  next  meeting.  Any  one  who  is  late  to  the  meet- 
ing will  be  fined  five  bunches  of  incense  sticks,  and  will  be  reprimanded 
before  the  meeting  for  his  neglect  of  the  regulations. 

The  fee  for  registering  a  newly  organized  shop  is  two  taels,  for  regis- 
tering the  name  of  a  new  owner,  one  tael,  and  for  registering  a  new  man- 
ager of  a  shop,  one- half  tael. 

On  the  i6th  of  the  3rd  month,  each  member  shall  pay  13  coppers  to 
the  gild.  A  receipt  will  be  given  for  the  money.  It  is  hoped  no  one  will 
miss  the  date. 


ADDITIONAL  REGULATIONS  OF  THE  BARBERS  GILD 

Peking  is  the  capital  of  our  country.  Its  population  is  very  dense.  The 
characters  of  its  people  are  different  one  from  the  other.  Some  of  them 
are  good  while  the  others  are  bad.  Some  do  things  according  to  the 
dictates  of  civilization.  Whenever  they  see  charitable  work  they  enjoy  it. 
The  bad  ones  work  according  to  their  own  wishes. 

At  the  present  time,  our  Government  has  become  a  Republic.  She 
wants  her  citizens  to  be  independent,  polite,  social  and  cooperative.  She 
also  wants  each  gild  to  form  an  organization  for  self-control. 

The  Barbers  gild  is  small  at  present,  but  it  has  had  a  charitable  organ- 
ization for  a  good  many  years. 

The  hospital  and  the  grave-yard  are  the  beneficent  works  of  this  gild. 
They,  and  the  daily  subscription  of  each  member  for  charitable  work, 
are  much  praised  by  different  societies. 

Confucius  said,  "When  we  see  men  of  worth,  we  should  think  of 
equalling  them ;  when  we  see  men  of  a  contrary  character,  we  should  turn 
inwards  and  examine  ourselves"  and  "Begin  with  the  easy  and  then  go 
to  the  hard,  and  from  the  better  turn  to  the  best." 

We  are  afraid  that  some  members  of  our  gild  are  selfish,  and  do  some 
shameful  things  which  may  hurt  the  name  of  the  gild.  Because  of  this, 
the  gild  has  adopted  rules  and  sent  them  to  all  the  members,  so  that  they 
may  observe  them.  If  any  one  breaks  any  of  these  rules,  he  will  be  given 
a  heavy  punishment  by  the  gild. 

The  Rules  are  as  follows: 

1.  When  a  man  comes  to  work  for  a  store,  the  manager  must  find  out 
if  he  has  a  gild  membership  card.    If  he  has  not  secured  his  card  the 
manager  must  require  him  to  get  it. 

2.  The  managers  and  workers  must  not  gamble  or  smoke  opium  in  the 
work-shops. 

3.  The  managers  and  workers  must  wear  dean  clothes,  and  must  not 
wear  their  hair  so  that  it  hangs  upon  shoulders. 

4.  The  managers  and  workers  must  not  laugh  or  make  jokes  among 
themselves  while  they  are  at  work.     They  must  not  smoke  cigarettes  in 
front  of  their  customers. 

5.  The  managers  and  workers  must  not  drink  wine  during  the  day, 
and  the  eating  of  onions  and  garlic  is  absolutely  forbidden  by  the  gild. 

6.  All  managers,  workers  and  apprentices  must  be  careful  and  courte- 
ous  with  their  customers,   if   they  wish  them  to  become  their   regular 
customers. 

7.  Any  tip  given  by  a  customer  must  be  divided  from  the  amount 
paid  for  his  work,   so  that  there  may  be  no  chance   for  disagreement 
between  the  store-keeper  and  the  workers.     (The  tips  are  to  be  divided 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  487 

between  the  Chang-kuei-ti  or  store-keeper,  the  workers  and  the  appren- 
tices.) 

8.  The  managers  and  workers  must  clean  the  combs  and  other  instru- 
ments as  soon  as  they  have  finished  their  work. 

9.  The  managers  of  the  stores  are  responsible  for  the  enforcement 
of   the   above   rules.    If   any  worker   is   found  breaking  the   rules,   the 
manager  will  be  given  the  same  punishment  as  the  worker. 


THE  CHARITABLE  RULES  OF  THE  BARBERS  GILD 

We  have  heard  that  the  greatest  happiness  in  the  world  comes  to 
those  who  do  virtuous  works.  The  greater  the  amount  of  unostentatious 
benevolence,  the  greater  will  be  the  amount  of  merit  stored  up  for  many 
generations.  Ofter  when  a  man  gives  help,  because  of  the  goodness  of 
his  heart,  he  will  gain  the  acquaintance  of  many  enjoyable  friends.  If 
he  works  for  every  secret  merit,  he  will  have  many  blessings. 

We  have  this  organization  so  that  we  may  help  the  poor,  nurse  the 
sick  and  bury  the  dead.  All  of  these  charitable  works  are  carried  on  by 
our  gild. 

The  gild  is  always  anxious  to  benefit  all  of  its  members.  This  can 
be  shown  by  the  seventh  of  the  twelve  original  rules.  This  says  that 
every  member  must  subscribe  six  cents  per  month  toward  the  charitable 
work  of  the  gild.  Unfortunately,  however,  some  of  the  evil  men  among 
the  members  are  selfish  and  try  to  break  the  charitable  rules  which  have 
been  drawn  up  by  the  Committee  after  so  much  thought  and  considera- 
tion. At  the  present  time,  the  form  of  government  of  our  country  has 
changed.  All  men  of  high  ideals  should  feel  happy  when  they  hear  vir- 
tuous words,  and  help  when  they  see  some  charitable  work. 

Our  Board  of  Directors  have  been  working  hard  on  this  plan  for  many 
years.  Otherwise,  they  would  not  have  had  good  results.  We  hope  that 
our  brethren  will  enjoy  and  cooperate  in  the  work  so  that  we  shall  suc- 
ceed in  performing  a  piece  of  excellent  service. 

There  are  six  regulations  which  read  as  follows: 

1.  The  city  is   divided  into  nineteen   districts  according  to  the  city 
gates.    The  gild  will  give  help  to  any  one  who  is  registered  as  a  gild 
member,  regardless  of  the  district  in  which  he  lives,  the  store  in  which 
he  works,  or  whether  he  is  a  regular  or  irregular  member  of  the  gild. 
If  he  is  taken  sick  and  wants  to  let  the  gild  know  about  it,  then  he  must 
come  to  the  gild  hall  and  talk  the  matter  over  with  the  Director  who  is 
on  duty  on  that  day. 

2.  When  any  member  comes  to  report  to  the  gild,  he  should  make  out 
an  application  which  should  be  immediately  copied  in  a  book  so  that  all 
members  may  know  about  the  case,  should  the  sick  man  suddenly  die. 

3.  Any  member  who  is  sick  and  unable  to  work  can  send  a  friend  to 
report  his  case  to  the  gild.    The  Director  of  that  day  should  find  out  the 
sick  member's  name,  native  district,  age  and  present  address  and  go  and 
see  him.    If  the  man  is  very  sick,  the  Director  should  send  him  to  the 
gild  hall. 

4.  All  members  are  to  give  their  help  if  it  is  needed,  whenever  a 
request  for  aid  comes  to  the  gild  hall,  regardless  of  the  district  in  which 
the  case  is  located.    The  Directors  shall  use  the  funds  of  the  gild  to  buy 
a  coffin  for  any  member  who  has  died,  to  bury  his  body  and  to  erect  a 
monument  over  his  grave.    The  monument  will  prevent  any  errors  being 
made  when  the  man's  relatives  come  to  take  his  body  home. 

5.  The  Directors  of  the  gild  receive  no  salaries.    Therefore,  they  must 
not  take  away  the  public  funds.    All  expenses  must  be  reported  every  five 


438  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

days,  on  the  3rd,  8th,  I3th,  i8th,  23rd,  and  28th  of  the  month,  and  the 
reports  must  be  posted  in  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  hall. 

6.  It  is  the  rule  fixed  by  the  members,  that  every  five  days  the 
Director  of  the  day  must  go  with  the  cashier  to  deposit  the  income  of  the 
gild  in  the  T'ien  Shan  T'ang.  And  whenever  any  money  is  to  be  with- 
drawn, the  Director  and  Treasurer  must  go  to  the  T'ien  Shan  T'ang  with 
the  gild  check  book  and  must  be  accompanied  by  two  or  three  other 
members. 

Translated  from  a  notice  posted  in  the  Gild  Hall  of  the  Barbers  Gild. 

REPORT  OF  THE  PRECIOUS  STONE  DEALERS  GILD 

Gentlemen : — 

Since  the  opening  of  the  Association  of  Precious  Stone  Dealers,  we 
have  annually  had  our  conference  and  presented  you  the  statement  of 
our  account.  Owing  to  some  special  events  occurring  during  1911  and 
1912,  we  have  to  give  you  the  statement  of  the  two  years  on  one  sheet. 

The  list  of  income  and  expenses  of  the  two  years  is  as  follows: 

INCOME 

1.  Balance    $146.46 

2.  Subscription    386.00 

3.  Subscription    186.80 

4.  Loan  without  interest  138.80 

Total $858.15 

EXPENSES 

1.  Expense  for  circular,  voting-paper  and  invitation.  ..$    7.14 

2.  Account  books,  tea  and  coal,  etc 2.23 

3.  Paste,  ink,  beds  and  screen 2.70 

4.  Subscription  to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 415.10 

5.  Subscription  to  a  factory 28 

6.  Envelopes  and  printing  tables 3.92 

7.  Presents  to  the  coolies  on  holidays 13.16 

8.  Farewell  meeting  for  Mr.  Chao  Hsien  Nung,  Member 

of  Industrial  Association 4.17 

9.  Stamping  ink 1.39 

10.  Bulletin  board   2.65 

1 1.  Stationery  box 4.60 

12.  List  of   General  Association  of   Commerce   (printing 

subscription)    16.49 

13.  Wages  for  coolies 82.25 

14.  Flag  cloth 1.67 

15.  Stock  for  Peking  Commercial  Report 30.00 

16.  Subscription  to  Mr.  Kui  Lien  Pu 35 

17.  Photograph    of    Mr.    Sun    Chung    Shan's    welcome 

meeting    2.41 

Total    $590.41 

Balance  on  hand 267.74 

Yours  sincerely, 
PRECIOUS-STONE-WARE  Co.  ASSOCIATION. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  439 

INCOME  AND  EXPENSE  OF  THE  BOOT  GILD  OF  PEKING 

A  Report  of  the  Sacrifices  held  on  the  isth  day  of  the  gth  month 
of  the  7th  year  of  the  Republic,  September  15,  1918 

To  our  God,  the  Great  Teacher  and  the  God  of  Wealth: 

We  want  to  sacrifice  to  our  God,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Boot  Gild, 
so  on  the  15th  day  of  the  pth  month  of  the  7th  year  of  the  Republic  we 
will  give  a  play  in  pur  Temple,  and  each  of  us  must  pay  six  hundred  cash 
(six  tiao)  for  the  incense  fees.  On  that  day,  if  the  owner  of  a  boot  shop 
cannot  come  he  may  have  an  employee  from  his  shop  represent  him,  but 
in  that  case  he  must  pay  four  thousand  cash  (forty  tiao)  to  the  Temple 
for  an  incense  fee.  This  fee  has  no  connection  whatever  with  any  man 
in  that  shop.  If  the  representative  is  an  apprentice  who  has  not  com- 
pleted his  training,  the  employer  must  pay  a  penalty  of  five  hundred  cash 
(five  tiao).  If  the  representative  is  not  employed  in  the  shop  he  repre- 
sents, he  has  to  pay  a  double  penalty.  This  money  is  to  be  used  before 
our  God. 

Now  we  have  decided  to  give  five  hundred  cash  (five  tiao)  as  a  coffin 
fee  to  the  families  of  each  of  those  members  of  our  gild  who  have  died  in 
Peking,  but  whose  homes  are  far  away.  These  dead  friends  must  be 
reported  to  the  gild  and  the  gild  has  to  approve  their  case  before  the 
money  can  be  paid  to  their  families. 

List  of  the  Expenses  and  Receipts 

A.     The  Expenditures 

Cash 

1.  For  the  performance  of  the  play 90,400 

2.  For  the  rent  of  articles  which  are  used  as  altar  decorations  2,200 

3.  Paper  money  4,860 

4.  Vegetables  for  the  sacrifices 1,300 

5.  Candles  and  incense 9,44O 

6.  Paper  box    500 

7.  Fresh  fruits  for  the  sacrifice 3,220 

8.  The  Annual  Sacrifice 1,300 

9.'    Rent  of  furniture,  the  altar  platform,  etc 1,800 

10.  Oil  Lamp   1,400 

11.  Repairing  of  paper  window 600 

12.  Paper  label  for  sealing 90 

13.  Fee  for  the  opening  of  the  Temple 80 

14.  Fees  for  burning  incense  after  the  opening 40 

15.  Fees  for  philanthropic  meetings    500 

16.  Fees  to  servants  who  clean  the  Temple 300 

17.  To  the  men  who  have  prepared  things  fqr  this  meeting 20,400 

18.  Wine  fees  for  the  above 1,600 

19.  Paper,  pens  and  other  stationery 3,220 

20.  Fees  for  putting  up  the  flag  posts 300 

21.  Fares  for  collecting  names  of  each  shop 3,9>8o 

22.  The  printing  of  the  report  of  the  burning  of  monthly  incense  4,800 

23.  The  sacrifice  of  various  cakes i,34<> 

24.  Feast  in  the  Temple 13*260 

25.  Men  who  have  prepared  these  things 6,800 

26.  Wine  fees  for  the  above 600 

27.  The  earnest  money  for  the  feast 980 

28.  Fuel,  tea,  etc 2,920 

29.  Fares  for  bringing  incense  to  Temple 18,600 


440  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

Expenditures  (Continued) 

Cash 

30.  Servants    200 

31.  White   candles    3,820 

32.  Rice  for  the  feast  (served  for  three  times) 17,600 

33.  Fees  sacrificed  in  the  spring 4,500 

34.  Fees  for  printing  this  report 3,ooo 

35.  Fees  for  bag  maker  1,900 

36.  Wine   fees    1,560 


Total  Cash  229,410 

(Approximately  $170.00) 
B.     The  Income 

Cash 

1.  Contribution  from  Wang   Fu   Jen $1.00 

2.  Contribution  from  Liu  Fo  San i.oo 

3.  Contribution  from  Wang  Tzu-Ming 600 

4.  Contribution  from  Wan    Shang   Tsa 200 

5.  Contribution  from  Wang  Ching  Yung 400 

6.  Contribution  from  Wa  Wang  Yang  (10  packages  incense) 

7.  Balance    2,640 

8.  Deposit  from  the  incense  fees  of  the  last  meeting 3,45° 

9.  Incense  fees  for  this  meeting 115,000 

10.  Incense  from  other  contributions 56,000 

1 1.  Contributions  from  different  shops 72,000 

12.  Incense   fees    3>9oo 

Total  Cash  254,190 

Gross  Income  254,190 

Gross  expenditures 229,410 

Balance    Cash    24,780 

MAXIMS  AND  RULES  FOR  APPRENTICES 

1.  The  most  important  thing  for  an  apprentice  to  do  is  to  become  an 
educated  man  and  one  who  lives  according  to  rule.     Otherwise,  he  will 
be  rough,  and  will  not  become  a  useful  man.    The  apprentice  is  just  like 
a  piece  of  stone,  and  just  as  it  is  impossible  to  make  something  useful 
from  stone  unless  you  polish  it,  so  it  is  with  the  apprentice. 

2.  If  you  want  to  learn  to  be  a  merchant,  you  should  not  be  an  appren- 
tice in  a  large  shop.     In  the  large  stores,  everything  is  very  luxurious 
because  the  store  has  a  large   capital.     The   food  is   excellent  and  the 
clothes  of  the  employees  are  made  of  satin.    If  you  work  there,  you  will 
become  used  to  luxurious  ways  and  will  fail  in  your  future  profession 
even  though  you  may  be  an  able  merchant.    The  best  way,  is  to  start  in 
a  small  economical  place,  for  there  is  no  wealth  in  the  world  that  will  last 
forever.    If  you  have  worked  in  a  large  shop  and  are  obliged  to  leave  it 
because  of  trouble,  you  will  not  be  willing  to  enter  a  small  store  even 
though  you  may  be  able  to  find  an  opening  in  one.    Young  men  should  go 
first  to  a  small  shop  with  small  capital.     In  this  shop,  what  you  do  does 
not  involve  a  great  deal  of  money.     The  clothes  you  wear  will  be  made 
of  coarse  cloth,  and  the  food  you  eat  will  be  common  food.     You  will 
waste  no  money.     You  must  learn  to  be  economical  and  must  avoid  the 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  441 

luxurious  and  extravagant.  Your  daily  life  will  be  that  of  the  master's 
family.  You  will  have  experience  with  hard  work,  and  after  you  have 
opened  and  closed  the  gate,  you  will  learn  that  the  making  of  money  is 
not  easy.  After  you  have  learned  how  to  manage  the  business  of  a  family, 
you  will  have  learned  how  to  deal  with  others.  If  you  go  to  a  large 
shop  after  you  have  really  learned  what  trade  is,  you  will  not  do  things 
in  a  wrong  way,  but  will  become  a  prominent  man.  The  old  Proverb 
says,  "If  you  cannot  endure  the  sting  of  the  cold  wind,  how  can  you  enjoy 
the  perfume  of  the  rose  it  will  bring  to  you?"  "No  pain  is  no  gain." 
"If  you  keep  near  the  vermilion,  you  will  become  red;  if  near  the  ink, 
you  will  become  black."  In  general,  it  is  easy  to  ask  a  man  to  give  up 
a  lowly  position  and  take  a  higher  one,  but  it  is  not  easy  for  any  one  to 
give  up  a  higher  position  and  take  a  lower  one.  This  is  true  at  all  times 
and  in  all  places. 

3.  The  speed  with  which  an  apprentice  learns  and  the  way  he  learns 
depend  upon  the  skill  of  the  apprentice,  but  all  should  first  learn  to  do 
the  general  things  around  the  store,  cleaning,  cooking,  etc.,  and  have  real 
practice  in  doing  them.     Then  they  can  learn  how  to  look  and  listen  and 
move,  then  how  to  judge  money,  how  to  do  arithmetic  and  how  to  write 
letters,  then  the  rules  of  courtesy,  etc. 

4.  In  the  morning,  you  apprentices  should  clean  the  stove,  floors,  show- 
cases, tables,  ink-bottles,  pens,  scales,  money,  and  you  must  serve  your 
masters  when  they  wash  their   faces.     When  you  clean   the  floor,  you 
should  first  sprinkle  some  water  around  to  keep  down  the  dust.     If  you 
find  some  money  on  the  floor,  you  should  give  it  to  your  master,  because 
he  may  be  testing  you  by  putting  the  money  on  the  floor.     If  there  are 
papers  on  the  floor,  you  should  look  them  over  carefully  because  they 
may  contain  some  valuable  documents  or  some  bank  notes.     When  you 
sweep  the  table  or  counter,  you  should  gather  the  dirt  together  in  one 
place  and  then  carry  it  out. 

5.  When  a  customer  comes  into  the  store,  the  apprentice  should  give 
him  a  pipe  and  say,  "Please  smoke,"  and  then  should  give  him  a  cup  of 
tea,  offering  it  with  both  hands  and  say,  "Take  it,  please."     If  the  cus- 
tomer stays  a  long  time,  the  apprentice  must  offer  him  tobacco  and  tea 
a  second  time.     After  the  customer  has  left,  the  apprentice  must  then 
return  the  pipe  and  teacups  where  they  belong. 

6.  As  an  apprentice  you  should  always  be  careful.     You  must  not  be 
timid  before  others  nor  should  you  be  impolite. 

7.  You  apprentices  should  not  sit  down  during  the  day  except  at  the 
table,  because  the  men  in  the  shop  are  all  your  elders  or  teachers. 

8.  You  apprentices  should  stand  behind  the  counter  and  watch  your 
master  transact  business  with  his  customers,  and  should  remember  the 
way  your  master  talks. 

9.  You  apprentices  must  not  speak  when  other  men  are  talking.    You 
should  hear  but  not  speak.    You  should  always  keep  your  eyes  open  but 
seldom  open  your  mouth. 

10.  When  you  are  an  apprentice,  you  must  learn  to  speak  loudly  and 
distinctly.     You  must  not  keep  your  mouth   shut  when  you   speak,   or 
nobody  will  hear  what  you  are  talking  about.    You  must  not  speak  unless 
you  have  some  object,  and  must  not  use  unreasonable  laughter.     You 
must  always  speak  the  truth.     If  some  one  says  something  just  for  fun, 
you  may  pretend  not  to  hear  it,  and  then  you  must  not  join  in  the  laugh- 
ter and  movement.    If  you  behave  in  this  way,  you  will  easily  get  on  in 
your  study  of  business. 

11.  You  apprentices  should  not  be  afraid  to  ask  questions.     If  there 
is  something  that  you  do  not  fully  understand,  about  judging  money, 
doing  arithmetic,  writing  letters,  talking  business  or  acting  courteously, 


442  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

you  should  ask  some  older  man  to  tell  you  about  it.  You  should  not  keep 
your  mouth  shut  like  a  wooden  image.  If  you  ask  an  older  man  politely, 
he  will  be  glad  to  teach  you,  for  when  he  teaches  you  he  loses  nothing. 
He  just  uses  his  tongue.  But  you  gain  knowledge  that  you  can  keep  and 
that  soldiers,  robbers  and  fire  cannot  steal  or  destroy. 

12.  You  apprentices   should  always  bear  in  mind  what  your  master 
has  told  you  and  remember  what  you  have  learned.     You   should  also 
have  an  honest  and  agreeable  face  so  that  your  master  will  be  glad  to 
teach  you,  and  customers  will  be  glad  to  trade  with  you. 

13.  After  you  have  been  an  apprentice  for  a  year  and  you  have  learned 
some  of  the  ways  of  trade,  you  must  be  bold  enough  to  do  ^some  things  for 
yourself.    You  must  never  be  timid.    If  you  meet  hardships  in  what  you 
are  doing,  others  will  surely  help  you.     When  you  have  tried  once  or 
twice,  you  will  have  gained  some  experience.     If  you  refuse  to  try,  you 
will  become  timid  and  never  be  bold  to  proceed.     The  Proverb  says,  "If 
you  want  to  meet  a  man,  you  must  come  forward." 

14.  You  apprentices  must  not  complain  when  your  master  corrects 
you  or  gives  you  instructions.     Your  master  is  a  much  older  man  than 
you;  and  if  you  do  not  obey  him  you  will  not  master  your  trade  even 
though  you  study  all  your  life. 

15.  You  must  not  complain  because  your  master  corrects  you,  nor 
ought  you  to  complain  that  your  master  troubles  you.    He  is  not  troubling 
you  when  he  is  teaching  you.     If  you  complain,  your  master  will  not 
teach  you  any  more.    You  are  Very  young,  and  if  you  remain  uneducated 
what  sort  of  men  will  you  be? 

16.  You  apprentices  should  learn  what  your  master  teaches  and  obey 
his  words.     If  you  do  this,  the  master  will  be  glad  to  teach  you  all  his 
ability.    If  you  do  not  learn  and  obey,  he  will  try  you  several  times,  and 
then  he  will  not  try  to  teach  you  any  more  but  will  constantly  praise  you 
instead.    He  will  see  that  you  refuse  his  teaching,  and  he  does  not  want 
to  be  hated  by  his  apprentices.     Think  it  over  carefully  lest  you  achieve 
nothing  when  you  are  old. 

17.  You  should  know  the  difference  between  the  good  and  the  bad. 
Suppose  there  are  two  men  in  a  shop  and  one  of  them  is  always  correct- 
ing you,  and  the  other  praises  you.     If  you  think  the  first  is  a  bad  man 
and  the  second  a  good  man,  you  are  wrong.    The  first  man  is  very  kind 
to  you.    He  loves  you  very  much  and  hopes  that  some  day  you  will  be  a 
useful  man.     Therefore,  he  corrects  you  all  the  time.     The  second  man 
is  unkind  to  you,  because  he  does  not  want  you  to  become  a  useful  man. 
You  young  men  should  understand  this  very  clearly. 

18.  You  apprentices  must  not  be  voracious  and  steal  food  from  the 
kitchen  or  steal  money  to  buy  food  or  ask  some  other  man  to  give  you 
food.     Voracious  habits  will  not  only  make  you  lose  your  character  but 
lose  your  reputation  as  well,  and  you  should  avoid  them  carefully. 

19.  There  are  five  good  forms  for  an  apprentice,  walking,  standing, 
sitting,  eating  and  sleeping. 

20.  When  walking,  your  body  should  be  straight,  your  hands  should 
hang  down.     When  you  meet  your  master  or  an  older  man  you  should 
let  them  go  first.    Your  head  should  be  held  straight,  and  not  turned  first 
to  the  east  and  then  to  the  west,  the  way  a  mouse  does. 

21.  When  you  are  standing,  you  should  keep  your  body  straight.    Do 
not  touch  the  wall  and  do  not  bite  your  fingers. 

22.  When  you  sit  djown,  you   should  keep  your  body  straight,   and 
your  nose  should  point  toward  your  heart.     Your  head  and  your  legs 
should  not  shake. 

23.  You  should  eat  slowly  and  not  make  a  noise  with  the  chopsticks 
and  the  bowls,     You  should  not  eat  too  much  vegetables.     It  is  most 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  443 

important  that  you  should  not  sneeze  when  you  are  eating  and  so  scatter 
your  food  on  the  table. 

24.  The  best  way  to  sleep  is  to  crook  your  legs,  close  your  eyes  and 
mouth.    It  is  very  bad  to  spread  your  arms  and  legs  out  in  a  disorderly 
way,  or  to  talk,  sing  or  make  noises  when  you  are  in  Bed. 

25.  After  a  meal,  if  you  have  no  work  to  do,  you  can  sit  at  the 
counter  and  learn  to  write.     Every  character  must  be  neat  and  tidy  so 
they  will  show  care  and  attention.     But  you  must  remember  that  you  are 
only  occupying  your  leisure  time.     If  some  duties  come  up  that  should 
be  attended  to  at  once,  you  must  not  write  any  more.     The  sages  say, 
"After  work,  if  you  still  have  time  and  strength,  you  ought  to  use  them 
for  study." 

26.  At  night,  when  you  have  nothing  to  do,  you  should  learn  to  calcu- 
late.   You  can  ask  somebody  to  show  you  how  to  do  it,  but  at  the  same 
time  you  must  think  and  try  to  find  out  how  to  do  it  yourself.     In  other 
words,  do  not  rely  on  others  and  waste  your  brain.     The  abacus  is  in 
general  use  in  commercial  circles,  and  you  must  learn  how  to  use  it. 
Calculating  with  the  pen  is  a  modern  method  and  must  be  learned  as  well. 

27.  After  you  have  practiced  writing  and  calculating,  if  you  still  have 
time,  you  should  study  letter  writing  and  read  useful  books.     If  you  are 
in  a  treaty  port,  you  must  learn  to  read  and  speak  a  foreign  language  so 
you  can  do  business  with  the   foreigners.     One  foreign  language  is  in 
common  use  in  one  port,  another  in  another  port.    If  you  are  in  Shanghai 
or  Hankow,  you  had  better  study  English ;  if  in  Manchuria  or  Mongolia, 
study  Russian  or  Japanese,  while  if  you  are  in  Kiaochow,  you  had  better 
study  German. 

28.  In  the  silk  and  ornament  stores  and  in  the  exchange  and  banking 
business,  balances  have  to  be  used.    The  strings  of  the  balance  must  not 
be  twisted,  and  you  must  be  sure  that  you  hold  the  right  string  and  count 
the  dots  that  go  with  the  string  that  you  hold.    You  must  hold  the  balance 
carefully,  or  it  will  be  up  at  one  end  and  down  at  the  other  and  you  will 
never  be  able  to  determine  the  exact  amount  you  have  in  the  balance.    You 
must  not  hold  the  string  so  that  the  balance  cannot  turn  around  easily. 
When  using  a  small  balance,  you  must  not  open  your  mouth  and  blow  on 
the  balance,  and  when  using  a  big  balance,  you  must  be  sure  to  keep  your 
shoulders  straight.    You  must  not  hurry  or  be  careless  and  you  must  not 
give  a  report  until  you  know  accurately  the  amount  you  have  weighed. 

29.  Silver  coins  may  be  smooth  and  may  in  some  cases  be  counter- 
feit.    Although  the  judging  of  such  coins  is  the  business  of  a  banking 
expert,  every  merchant  should  know  something  about  it.    Whenever  you 
sell  anything  and  money  is  given  you,  you  must  examine  it  carefully  so 
that  you  will  not  accept  counterfeit  coins  and  so  cause  your  master  to  lose. 
You  must  also  understand  ancl  thoroughly  learn  how  to  give  a  customer 
proper  change.     For  example,  if  you  receive  one  big  dollar  in  payment 
for  a  tub  that  costs  eighty  cents,  you  must  give  the  buyer  twenty  cents  in 
"big  money."     If  you  have  not  a  "big  money"  twenty  cent  piece,  or  the 
buyer  wants  "small  money"  or  coppers,  you  have  to  convert  from  "big 
money"  to  "small  money,"  and  for  the  twenty  cents  "big  money"  must 
give  one   "small"   twenty   cent   piece   and   five   coppers   or   twenty-seven 
coppers,  this,  when  the  market  rate  of  exchange  is  twelve  "small"  ten 
cent  pieces  or  one  hundred  thirty-eight  coppers  to  the  dollar.     You  must 
count  right  and  give  the  right  change.    By  so  doing,  you  will  please  every 
customer  and  increase  your  business. 

30.  If  "small"  silver  coins  or  coppers  are  accepted  for  goods  that 
are  ordinarily  sold  for  "big"  money,  care  must  be  taken  in  figuring  the 
necessary  conversion. 

31.  When  bank  notes  are  offered,  see  what  bank  issues  them,  and 


444  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

make  sure  that  they  are  being  circulated  in  the  market  before  accepting 
them. 

32.  No  matter  whether  it  is  coppers  "big"  or  "small,"  silver  coins  or 
bank  notes  that  are  given  you,  they  must  be  counted  in  front  of  the 
customer,  so  that  you  may  not  be  suspected  of  fraud.  You  must  be  par- 
ticularly careful  about  this  when  the  sum  is  a  large  one. 

LECTURE  ON  LU  PAN  INDUSTRIAL  UNION 

Gentlemen:  The  world  to-day  is  a  world  of  struggles.  The  natural 
evolutionary  process  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  holds  true  between 
nations  as  it  does  among  men.  To  strive  for  something  better  is  the  only 
way  to  exist.  In  view  of  this  gigantic  force,  China  overthrew  the  mon- 
archy and  established  a  Republic. 

The  vitality  of  a  country  rests  principally  upon  industry  and  commerce. 
If  these  enterprises  are  very  prosperous,  foreign  goods  will  not  have  any 
market  in  our  country,  and  on  the  contrary  the  export  of  native  products 
will  be  great.  With  exports  more  than  imports,  the  country  is  greatly 
enriched  and  is  thereby  enabled  to  become  a  strong  nation.  It  is,  there- 
fore, essential  that  we  who  are  engaged  in  industrial  and  commercial 
enterprises,  cooperate  to  devise  new  methods  of  producing  goods  and  to 
establish  better  organizations  to  dispose  of  those  goods. 

There  have  been  established  in  China  organizations  such  as  the 
Merchants  Gild,  the  Blacksmiths  Gild,  Miners  Gild,  Printers  Gild  and 
even  a  Barbers  Gild  for  the  purpose  of  making  advancements  in  the  indi- 
vidual professions.  Although  there  has  been  formed  a  Lu  Pan  Club,  yet 
it  has  failed  to  carry  out  its  functions.  We  now  propose  to  reorganize 
this  Club  and  call  it  a  Union  instead  of  a  Club  to  signify  the  importance 
of  cooperation.  This  will  enable  us  to  improve  and  increase  the  technical 
skill  handed  down  to  us  by  Lu  Pan,  so  that  industrial  and  commercial 
developments  may  be  attained.  The  consequence  of  such  an  accomplish- 
ment is  that  the  country  will  be  greatly  strengthened  in  every  way,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  benefit  tte  workmen  will  obtain  from  the  increase  in  the 
supply  of  work.  The  Ministry  of  the  Interior  has,  therefore,  consented  to 
this  movement  and  the  Police  Department  has  also  promised  to  offer  all 
necessary  protection. 

For  fear  that  some  of  us  may  still  not  fully  understand  the  purposes 
of  this  organization,  it  seems  best  to  give  a  full  and  complete  account 
of  same. 

The  first  purpose  of  the  Union  is  to  advance  our  profession  so  that 
we  may  have  the  benefit  derived  from  doing  all  the  construction  business 
in  the  country.  At  present,  the  contractors  are  working  separately  for 
selfish  aims  and  have  no  idea  of  cooperation  for  improving  the  old 
methods  of  doing  things.  Most  of  them  do  not  know  how  to  formulate 
plans  to  prevent  the  foreign  contractors  from  obtaining  all  the  business, 
but  all  realize  that  this  taking  of  the  work  by  the  foreigners  is  not  bene- 
ficial to  our  country.  Although  a  few  far-sighted  men  have  noticed  the 
seriousness  of  the  situation  and  have  attempted  to  voice  this  sentiment, 
yet  their  limited  ability  and  strength  have  failed  to  bring  about  any  result. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  at  present  most  of  the  building  con- 
tracts are  in  the  hands  of  our  foreign  friends.  But  they  rely  upon  our 
workmen  to  do  the  work.  Why  can  we  not  then  take  up  the  contracts  and 
put  our  men  to  work?  It  is,  therefore,  the  first  purpose  of  the  Union  to 
start  such  movements,  as  shall  enable  us  to  accept  and  carry  out  our  own 
building  contracts.  Thus,  the  country  will  be  benefited. 

The  second  purpose  of  the  Union  is  to  organize  or  establish  a  bureau 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  445 

for  improving  old  methods  and  for  inventing  new  methods  of  construc- 
tion, as  industries  can  grow  only  through  improvements  and  adaptations 
to  the  changes  of  the  times.  The  Union  will  invite  our  competent  technical 
men  to  take  up  this  matter  immediately,  so  that  some  conclusions  may  be 
arrived  at  and  put  into  practice. 

Another  purpose  of  the  Union  is  to  provide  workshops  for  our  fellow 
countrymen  who  belong  to  the  Lu  Pan  professions,  who  lack  work  for 
some  reason  or  other.  It  is  indeed  a  pity  to  see  so  many  of  our  brothers 
unemployed.  The  work  that  the  Union  is  to  take  up  will  not  only  release 
them  from  difficulties  and  hardships  but  will  also  improve  the  welfare  of 
our  Union  and  the  country  as  a  whole. 

Last  of  all,  the  Union  intends  to  encourage  self-control  among  the 
workmen  and  to  provide  means  to  prevent  any  incidents  that  may  be 
injurious  to  our  work.  Troubles  between  capitalists  and  laborers  fre- 
quently occur.  Either  the  capitalists  ill-treat  the  laborers  or  the  laborers 
make  unreasonable  demands  by  means  of  strikes.  The  early  settlement 
of  such  troubles  is  vitally  important.  The  Union  will  therefore  be  respon- 
sible for  formulating  plans  so  that  if  the  capitalists,  for  instance,  reduce 
the  wages  of  their  laborers,  the  Union  will  be  able  to  take  measures  to 
force  them  to  treat  the  laborers  properly.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the 
laborers  raise  undue  troubles  against  the  capitalists,  the  Union  will  impose 
upon  them  due  punishment.  Rewards  will  be  given  for  the  invention  of 
new  methods  and  patent  rights  will  be  secured  for  them.  In  this  wav, 
the  technical  skill  of  the  workmen  will  be  improved,  our  industry  will 
grow  rapidly  and  the  country  will  thereby  become  stronger.  What  an 
important  and  respectful  position  we  are  in.  Shall  we  not  take  up  this 
responsibility  willingly? 

The  above  four  purposes  indicate  the  general  and  important  work  of 
the  Union.  Besides  this,  there  is,  of  course,  some  charitable  work  to  be 
done,  such  as  feeding  the  poor,  caring  for  the  sick,  providing  homes  for 
the  old  and  weak  and  so  forth.  The  field  is  great  and  work  is  abundant. 
We  will  try  gradually  to  do  it  all  for  the  good  of  the  descendants  of  Lu 
Pan.  This  is  the  sole  purpose  of  the  Union. 

PETITION  FILED  WITH  THE  POLICE  DEPARTMENT  ASKING 

THEM  TO  FORWARD  TO  THE  MINISTRY  OF  THE 

INTERIOR  A  REQUEST  FOR  PERMISSION  TO 

DISSOLVE  THE  CARPENTERS' 

UNION 

After  the  re-organization  of  the  Carpenters'  Union  met  with  the 
approval  of  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  a  general  meeting  of  the  Presi- 
dents of  the  Local  Chapters  and  the  representatives  was  called  by  the 
promoters,  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the  policy  of  the  Union.  The 
objection  was  raised  that  since  this  new  name  "The  Carpenters'  Union" 
does  not  include  the  masons  and  the  painters  as  did  the  Lu  Pan  Club,  it 
is  not  wise  to  adopt  this  name.  The  workmen  are  usually  so  ignorant 
that  it  is  necessary  to  make  the  name  clearly  signify  what  it  means.  As 
they  all  pay  great  homage  and  respect  to  their  great  Teacher  Lu  Pan,  it 
is  thought  proper  to  start  the  name  of  this  Union  with  "Lu  Pan,"  so  that 
union  and  cooperation  may  be  attained;  that  the  policy  of  reorganization 
may  be  carried  out  with  earnestness  and  sincerity,  that  we  may  improve 
the  industry  for  our  own  good  and  interest. 

The  proposed  policy  of  taxation  based  on  the  daily  wages  of  the 
workmen  (2  coppers  a  day  per  man)  is  also  considered  unfair  and  dif- 
ficult to  carry  out,  because  of  the  present  high  cost  of  living.  It  is 


446  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

thought  better  to  levy  a  tax  of  2  taels  per  1,000  (2/10  of  I  percent)  on 
any  construction  work  contracted  for  by  any  members  of  the  Union.  This 
sum  is  to  be  used  for  the  expenses  of  the  Union.  Although  the  former 
policy  met  with  the  approval  of  the  Ministry,  it  has  not  been  put  into 
practice.  The  new  policy  being  more  reasonable  and  fair,  the  other  day 
we  appealed  to  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior  to  allow  us  to  make  such 
changes.  According  to  your  Excellency's  suggestion  that  we  should  first 
appeal  for  the  dissolution  of  the  former  Union  and  apply  for  the  reor- 
ganization of  the  Lu  Pan  Industrial  Union  and  also  send  in  a  copy  of  the 
By-Laws  and  Policy  of  that  Union,  we  now  request  Your  Excellency  to 
inform  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior  that  it  is  our  earnest  desire  to  dissolve 
the  "Carpenters'  Union." 

2nd  Year  of  the  Republic  (1913) 

PETITION     REQUESTING    THE    POLICE    DEPARTMENT    TO 

FORWARD  TO  THE  MINISTRY  OF  THE  INTERIOR  THE 

APPLICATION  FOR  PERMISSION  TO  ORGANIZE 

THE  LU  PAN  INDUSTRIAL  UNION 

Commerce  is  the  life  of  a  country  while  industry  is  the  controlling 
factor  of  commerce.  Indeed,  the  prosperity  of  commerce  depends  upon 
the  development  of  industry.  Since  the  establishment  of  the  Republic, 
reforms  of  all  kinds  need  to  be  carried  out,  but  the  development  of 
industries  should  be  emphasized  first  of  all.  Industries  increase  the 
wealth  of  a  nation,  and  work  saves  the  poor  from  starvation.  Responding 
to  duty's  call,  we  appeal  for  the  reorganization  of  the  Lu  Pan  Industrial 
Union,  the  policy  of  which,  as  described  in  the  following  outline,  is  essen- 
tial to  the  development  of  industry  and  is  also  helpful  to  the  welfare  of 
the  country. 

1.  Vocational    schools,   workshops   and   homes    for   the   old   will   be 
established.     Due  to  the  political  troubles  of  recent  years,  the  financial 
condition  of  the  country  is  going  from  bad  to  worse.     The  stress  of 
starvation  prevails  everywhere.     Even  in  the  city  of  Peking,  many  have 
died  of  starvation.    Although  the  Government  provides  means  to  help  and 
care  for  the  distressed,  yet  that  does  not  solve  the  serious  problem.    The 
real  cause  of  the  situation  is  the  low  earning  power  of  the  people.    The 
Union,  therefore,  proposes  to  establish  vocational  schools  and  workshops 
to  help  the  people  in  trade  education  and  to  provide  for  them  an  oppor- 
tunity to  make  a  living.    The  number  of  loafers  will  then  be  reduced  to 
a  minimum  and  the  evils  derived  from  them  will  be  eliminated  to  a  great 
extent.    We  will  also  provide  homes  for  the  old  so  that  they,  as  well  as 
the  young,  will  be  well  taken  care  of  for  the  good  of  society. 

2.  A  Lu  Pan  Industrial  Improvement  Bureau  will  be  established  as 
scientific  knowledge  is  increased  by  research  work  while  industrial  enter- 
prise prospers  by  improvements.    For  thousands  of  years,  China's  indus- 
tries  have  been  carried  on  in  the  same  old  ways.     Those  engaged   in 
industries  have  been  ignorant  for  the'  most  part,  and  only  knew  how  to 
keep  what  they  had  and  did  not  know  how  to  improve  their  methods. 

3.  The  Union  also  plans  to  promote  self-control  among  the  workmen, 
to  prevent  disturbances  and  strikes.    Since  absolutism  has  been  done  away 
with  and  democracy  is  restored,  the  people  ought  to  cultivate  the  quality 
of  self-control  as  an  important  duty.    In  Peking  wages  are  not  fixed  and 
very  few  of  the  workmen  have  any  common  knowledge.     Consequently, 
when  something  happens  that  is  unsatisfactory  to  them,  they  make  trouble 
and  make  unreasonable  demands,   disregarding  entirely  whether  or  not 
such  action  will  hinder  the  development  of   the  industry.     To   set  up 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  447 

definite  wages  for  the  workmen  is  the  first  step  toward  the  promotion  of 
self-control  among  them.  When  the  sources  of  unreasonable  demands 
are  done  away  with  and  minute  differences  disappear,  self-control  is 
bound  to  exist. 

4.  The  Union  plans  to  provide  resting  places  for  those  whose  remains 
are  unclaimed,  and  to  present  coffins  to  those  who  die  in  poverty. 

In  short,  the  Union  aims  to  employ  the  funds  that  were  formerly 
wasted,  to  carry  out  some  useful  work.  Although  any  good  derived  from 
the  work  of  the  Union  is  insignificant  when  considered  in  comparison 
with  the  greatness  of  the  country,  yet  the  unification  of  streams  forms  a 
river  and  the  accumulation  of  earth  makes  a  mountain,  and  so  whatever 
little  the  Union  does  will  be  contributed  toward  the  sum  total  for  the 
good  of  the  country.  For  this  reason  we  beg  the  Police  Department  to 
appeal  for  us  to  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior. 

2nd  Year  of  the  Republic  (1913) 


REGULATIONS  OF  THE  LU  PAN  INDUSTRIAL  UNION 

I.    Aim 

1.  The  aim  of  this  Union  is  to  unite  the  Members  and  to  expedite  the 
progress  of  our  industries. 

II.    Name 

2.  This  Union  is  named  the  Lu  Pan  Industrial  Union. 

III.    Members 

3.  Any  Chinese  whose  profession  is  one  of  the  Lu  Pan  industries 
may  be  a  member  of  this  Union. 

4.  Any  one  who  is  eager  to  promote  industry  and  contributes  to  this 
Union  will  be  received  as  an  honorary  associate  member  or  a  special  asso- 
ciate member. 

5.  A  new  member  must  write  his  application  for  membership  on  the 
regular  form,  and  then  he  will  be  given  a  cloth  badge  to  wear  on  his  coat, 
and   his   name,    age,   birth-place,   profession   and    mail   address   will    be 
recorded  in  the  membership  book. 

IV.    Services  of  the  Union 

6.  Every  member  should  eagerly  study  the  reforms  of  the  industries 
and  the  desires  of  Society,  so  that  we  may  prevent  outsiders  from  taking 
our  trade. 

7.  If  a  member  has  some  skill,  he  should  report  it  to  the  Union  at 
once,  so  that  the  Officers  may  investigate  it  and  compare  it  with  that  of 
the  other  members. 

8.  Wages  are  to  be   determined  by  this  Union.    In  doing  this  the 
present  rate  of  wages  and  the  customs  of  the  trade  must  be  considered, 
so  that  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  increase  or  decrease  wages,  or  to  force 
the  members  by  means  of  fines  and  punishments  to  pay  the  rate  of  wages 
established  by  the  Union. 

9.  A  Lu  Pan  Industrial  office  and  a  Lu  Pan  Industrial  factory  will 
be   started  as  a  foundation  for  the  carrying  out  of  our  plans  to  the 
utmost. 

10.  A  studying  or  debating  society  is  to  be  organized,  that  will  be  part 
of  our  industrial  reform  work. 


448  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

IT.    This  Union  will  buy  a  public  grave-yard  in  which  to  bury  the  poor 
people  who  belong  to  the  Lu  Pan  trades. 

12.  Many  coffins  will  be  prepared  and  will  be  given  to  the  poor  per- 
sons of  the  Lu  Pan  trades  when  they  die. 

13.  This  Union  will  establish  a  charitable  hospital  that  will  receive 
and  care  for  the  old  and  helpless  persons. 

V.    Officers 

14.  The  Officers  of  this  Union  are  as  follows : 

President  of  the  Union I 

Vice-president  of  the  Union I 

General   Manager    I 

Directors     10 

Discussers  10 

Investigators    10 

Treasurers    2 

Business  Managers   2 

Secretaries    4 

15.  The  President,  the  Vice-president  and  the  general  active  members 
of  the  Union  (Directors,  Discussers  and  Investigators)  are  elected  by  the 
members  at  the  annual  meeting.    The  rest  of  the  Officers  are  appointed 
by  the  President. 

VI.    Duties  of  the  Officers  and  Members 

16.  The  President  shall  superintend  all  the  business  of  the  Union. 

17.  The  Vice-president  shall  assist  the  President,  and  if  the  President 
is  unable  to  be  present  at  a  meeting  the  Vice-president  shall  take  his  place. 

18.  The  General  Manager  shall  be  in  charge  of  all  the  business  of  the 
Union  and  shall  keep  order  in  the  meetings. 

19.  The  active  members  shall  assist  the  general  active  members  in 
carrying  on  all  the  business  of  the  Union. 

20.  The  Secretaries  shall  keep  the  records,  write  letters  and  attend 
to  all  printing. 

21.  The  Business  Managers  shall  attend  to  the  business  affairs  of  the 
Union. 

22.  The  Discussers  shall  discuss  everything  connected  with  the  Union. 

23.  The  Investigators   may  investigate  anything  connected  with  the 
Union. 

24.  All  Officials  shall  hold  office  for  only  one  year,  but  any  officer  is 
eligible  for  reelection. 

25.  If   the   President,   Vice-president   or   any   of   the   general   active 
members  are  prevented  from  fulfilling  the  duties  of  their  office  because 
of  unavoidable   reasons,  they  may  report  their  reasons  to  the  meeting 
of  the  members  and  will  be  allowed  to  resign  if  the  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers are  willing. 

26.  One  man  shall  not  hold  more  than  one  office. 

27.  All  members  shall  pay  the  regular  fees  of  the  Union. 

28.  All  members  must  obey  the  regulations  of  the  Union. 

29.  If  a  member  changes  his  place  of  residence  or  changes  his  pro- 
fession, he  should  report  the  fact  to  the  Union  at  once. 

30.  The    members    should   report   to   the   Union    if   they   have   any 
matters  that  are  of  interest  to  the  Union. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  449 

VII.    Power 

31.  Both  the  President  and  the  Vice-president  have  the  power  to  call 
meetings. 

32.  The  members  have  the  power  of  discussing  and  promoting  all 
matters  with  which  the  Union  is  concerned. 

33.  All  members  have  the  right  to  vote  for  the  Officers  of  the  Union 
and  all  are  eligible  to  be  elected  to  any  office. 

34.  The  members  have  the  right  to  examine  everything  that  is  done 
by  the  Union. 

35.  All  members  shall  be  given  the  protection  of  the  Union. 

36.  All  members  have  all  the  powers  that  are  fixed  by  the  Union. 

.VIII.    Fees 

37.  The  Union  is  supported  by  the  following  fees : 

(1)  Union  Fees.    The  Union  fee  is  2/10  of  I  percent  of  the 

amount  of  the  contracts  made  by  the  members. 

(2)  Special  Fees,  which  are  not  limited  in  amount. 

38.  The  Treasurers  will  give  a  receipt  for  all  fees. 

39.  The  current  accounts  are  to  be  reported  monthly  to  the  meeting 
of  the  officers.     The  Annual  Report  of  the  Union  shall  be  printed  at 
the  end  of  the  year. 

IX.  Meetings 

40.  There  are  four  kinds  of  meetings ;  the  regular  meeting,  the  special 
meeting,  the  meeting  of  officers  and  the  celebration. 

41.  The  officers  shall  come  and  prepare  everything  before  a  meeting 
is  called. 

42.  Every  member  must  be  present  at  the  meetings,  or,  if  unable  to 
be  present,  must  give  his  reason  and  ask  to  be  excused. 

43..  A  special  meeting  may  be  called  by  the  President  of  the  Union 
at  any  time. 

44.  The  meeting  of  the  officers  is  held  at  the  end  of  every  month. 
At  this  meeting  all  necessary  matters  and  questions  are  to  be  discussed. 

45.  A  celebration  is  held  on  a  special  day  and  a  theatrical  play  will 
be  given  by  the  Union  at  that  time. 

X.  By-Laws 

46.  The  head  office  of  this  Union  is  now  situated  in  Ching  Chung 
Miao,  Peking. 

47.  If  the  work  of  this  Union  is  successful,  branch  unions  will  be 
established  in  other  places  and  cities. 

48.  These  regulations  are  to  be  in  force  from  the  date  of  the  found- 
ing of  this  Union. 

49.  If  any  of  the  regulations  are  found  to  be  unsuitable,  they  must 
be  corrected  at  once. 

50.  The  working  rules  will  be  discussed  after  the  officers  are  elected 
and  appointed  at  the  organization  meeting  of  the  Union. 

BY-LAWS  OF  THE  LU  PAN  INDUSTRIAL  UNION 

The  construction  business  was  considered  very  prosperous  for  many 
years  in  the  past.  In  recent  years,  however,  it  has  gradually  declined  as 
the  vanishing  moon  and  the  disappearing  sun,  and  will,  in  the  course  of 


450  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

time,  go  out  of  sight.  Keen  competition  among  the  numerous  merchants 
accounts  for  this  serious  situation.  Competition  usually  compels  the 
merchants  to  give  the  lowest  possible  estimates  on  construction  work  if 
they  are  to  secure  any  business  at  all.  Therefore,  it  often  happens  that 
they  cannot  afford  to  use  the  kinds  of  building  materials  required  by  the 
contracts.  Failing  to  fulfill  the  terms  of  the  contract,  some  of  them  are 
subjected  to  due  payments  for  their  promises  and  consequently  go  into 
bankruptcy,  while  others  fall  into  judicial  disputes.  These  troubles  have 
a  bad  effect  on  our  reputation  and  hinder  the  development  of  our  busi- 
ness. The  foreign  contractors  have  taken  hold  of  this  advantage  and 
have,  therefore,  built  for  the  Government  the  buildings  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  the  Military  Consultation  Board  and  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. We  have  lost  that  much  business,  but  will  try  to  improve  con- 
ditions. For  this  reason,  we  have  formed  this  organization  which  has 
been  recognized  by  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior.  We  hope  all  of  you  will 
cooperate  with  us  in  carrying  out  the  plan  for  the  good  of  all. 

Article  I.  The  purposes  of  the  Union  are  (i)  to  dp  away  with  the 
old  regulations,  (2)  to  give  our  enterprise  more  publicity,  (3)  to  bring 
about  the  development  of  our  industries,  and  (4)  to  safe-guard  our 
interests. 

Article  2.  The  Union  will  consider  and  take  up  all  government  con- 
struction work  and  will  then  distribute  it  by  ballot  to  the  different  work- 
shops. 

Article  3.  The  contract  work  is  distributed  by  ballot  to  the  different 
workshops,  according  to  its  cost. 

Article  4.  If  the  estimate  of  some  construction  work,  made  by  any 
person,  is  in  accordance  with  that  made  by  the  Union,  such  work  will 
be  taken  up  by  those  who  have  obtained  the  proper  permission  from  the 
Union. 

Article  5.  No  matter  how  many  contractors  want  to  figure  and  esti- 
mate on  certain  construction  work,  they  are  not  allowed  to  set  up  different 
figures  for  the  same  work. 

Article  6.  The  Union  is  responsible  for  any  loss  on  the  construction 
work  that  has  been  approved  by  the  Union.  But,  if  the  loss  is  due  to 
wastefulness  on  the  part  of  the  constructor,  the  Union  has  the  right  to 
examine  his  accounts  and  demand  redemption  from  him. 

Article  7.  If  the  contractor  has  not  been  able  to  receive  the  full  value 
of  the  contract  after  the  work  is  completed  according  to  the  specifications 
in  the  agreement,  the  Union  will  be  responsible  for  the  collection  of  the 
debts. 

Article  8.  The  Union  will  estimate  the  cost  of  any  construction  work 
and  formulate  plans  for  such  work  for  any  shop  for  a  certain  percent 
commission.  If  the  contract  is  not  awarded  to  the  shop,  no  compensation 
is  required. 

Article  9.  Any  workshop,  in  need  of  money,  may  borrow  from  the 
Union  at  5  percent  interest  upon  the  recommendation  of  three  other 
workshops. 

Article  10.  For  every  thousand  taels  worth  of  business  contracted  for 
by  any  workshop,  two  taels  must  be  paid  toward  the  expense  of  the 
Union. 

Article  II.  If  there  is  any  surplus  fund,  a  special  meeting  will 
be  called  to  discuss  how  to  use  the  money  for  the  expansion  of  the 
Union. 

Article  12.  The  By-Laws  of  the  Union  may  be  amended  by  special 
meetings  called  by  the  President 

Article  13.  A  majority  vote  of  those  present  at  the  meeting  is  required 
to  pass  any  amendment. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  451 

Article  14.  Monthly  meetings  will  be  held  to  discuss  the  affairs  of 
the  Union. 

Article  15.  A  majority  vote  of  those  present  at  the  meeting  is  required 
to  pass  any  motion. 

Article  16.  Any  one  engaging  in  any  of  the  Lu  Pan  industries  may 
be  admitted  to  membership  in  the  Union,  if  recommended  by  the  promoters 
of  the  Union. 

Article  17.  New  members  are  required  to  fill  out  an  application  blank, 
and  in  return,  a  membership  certificate  will  be  issued  to  them. 

Article  18.  All  members  have  the  privilege  of  expressing  their  opin- 
ions about  the  policy  of  the  Union. 

Article  19.  Members  of  the  Union  are  not  allowed  to  make  use  of 
the  name  of  the  Union  in  conducting  personal  affairs. 

Article  20.  The  Union  has  the  right  to  dismiss  any  member  who  does 
not  observe  the  regulations  of  the  Union,  who  does  not  act  in  accordance 
with  the  purposes  of  the  Union  or  who  in  any  way  offends  the  reputation 
of  the  Union. 

Article  21.  The  present  temporary  expense  of  the  Union  will  be  met 
by  loans  from  the  promoters  of  the  Union.  These  loans  will  be  repaid 
as  soon  as  the  Union  is  able  to  do  so. 

Article  22.  The  Union  will  deposit  all  funds  of  1,000  taels  or  more  in 
a  bank  or  in  some  reliable  business  organization.  The  President  is 
responsible  for  all  such  transactions. 

Article  23.  Ten  members  or  more  may  sign  a  petition  asking  for  the 
right  to  inspect  and  examine  the  accounts  of  the  Union  at  any  time,  and 
thereupon  will  be  given  that  privilege. 

Article  24.  The  Union  will  publish  monthly  and  annual  reports  of 
all  income  and  expenditure.  These  reports  will  be  sent  to  all  shops  for 
reference. 


REGULATIONS  GOVERNING  THE  ORGANIZATION  OF 

CHAMBERS   OF  COMMERCE,   PROMULGATED 

SEPTEMBER  12,  1914 

Translated  by  William  S.  Howe,  American  Consul,  Hankow 
(Used  by  Special  Permission) 

SECTION  I 
Introduction 

1.  The  expression  "CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE,"  referred  to  in 
this  law,  includes  general  chambers  of  commerce  and  chambers  of  com- 
merce. 

2.  Every  general  chamber  of  commerce  or  chamber  of  commerce  is 
recognized  as  a  distinct  individual  in  the  eye  of  the  law. 

SECTION  II 
Organisation 

3.  General  chambers   of  commerce  are  allowed  to  be  organized  at 
those  places  where  the  highest  executive  officials  reside,  and  at  the  largest 
commercial  ports. 

4.  Chambers  of  commerce  are  allowed  to  be  organized  at  those  places 
where  high  executive  officials  reside,  or  at  large  commercial  ports  under 
their  jurisdiction. 


452  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

If  it  is  necessary  to  have  two  chambers  of  commerce  organized  under 
the  same  jurisdiction  of  an  executive  official,  or  important  to  have  a 
special  chamber  of  commerce  established  at  the  junction  of  two  ports,  the 
organizations  can  be  formed  after  approval  is  secured  from  the  Ministry 
of  Agriculture  and  Commerce. 

5.  When  a  general  chamber  of  commerce  is  organized  in  a  certain 
place,  the  promoters  shall  be  more  than  fifty  persons,  who  are  to  have 
the  proper  qualifications  for  its  members.     Proposed  regulations  shall  be 
drawn  in  accordance  with  the  following  items,  and  submitted  through  the 
local  highest  executive  officials,  to  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Com- 
merce for  approval. 

When  a  chamber  of  commerce  is  organized  in  a  certain  place,  the  pro- 
moters shall  be  more  than  thirty  persons,  who  are  to  have  the  proper 
qualifications  for  its  members.  Proposed  regulations  shall  be  drawn  in 
accordance  with  the  following  items,  and  submitted  through  the  local 
executive  officials  with  request  to  the  highest  executive  official  that  the 
said  regulations  be  referred  to  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce 
for  approval. 

1.  Name,  place,  and  its  address. 

2.  Number  of  committees  and  the  method  for  election. 

3.  Information  concerning  authority  of  officers  and  the  methods 

pertaining  to  the  period  of  commission  and  retirement. 

4.  Methods  for  meeting. 

5.  Treasury. 

6.  Investigation  of  disputes  over  industrial  and  commercial  matters. 

6.  The  number  of  members  of  general  chambers  of  commerce  or  of 
chambers  of  commerce  is  unlimited.    Chinese  who  have  one  of  the  follow- 
ing qualifications   can  become  members : 

1.  Being  officer  of  a  corporation  or  of  its  branch  office,  and  agent 

of  a  corporation. 

2.  Being  director  elected  among  a  certain  kind  of  firms  (of  a  cer- 

tain gild)   as  their  representative. 

3.  One  who  is  independently  interested  in  or  agent  for  industrial 

or  commercial  enterprises. 

7.  Those  who  have  been  found  guilty  in  connection  with  the  follow- 
ing items  cannot  be  members  though  they  are  furnished  with  the  above 
mentioned   qualifications : 

1.  Having  been  deprived  of  rights. 

2.  Proclamation  on  one's  patrimony  squandered  has  not  been  can- 

celled. 

3.  One  who  has  nervous  disease. 

8.  The  general  chamber  of  commerce  shall  have  the  following  officers : 

President 

Vice-president 

Directors 

9.  In  the  general  chamber  of  commerce,  there  shall  be  one  president, 
one  vice-president,  and  30  to  40  directors;  while  in  the  chamber  of  com- 
merce there   shall   be   one  president,   one  vice-president,   and    15  to   30 
directors. 

10.  Special  directors  may  be  elected  in  general  chambers  of  commerce 
and  chambers  of  commerce.     The  number  of  these  directors  shall  not 
exceed  one  fifth  of  the  directors'  committee. 

11.  The  president,  vice-president  and  directors  are  regarded  as  honored 
members. 

12.  An  office  shall  be  established  in  every  general  chamber  of  com- 
merce or  chamber  of  commerce. 

If  there  is  some  important  occurrence  in  the  district  of  a  general 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  453 

chamber  of  commerce,  or  in  the  region  of  a  chamber  of  commerce,  a 
branch  office  can  be  set  up  when  necessary. 

13.  Having   established   a   branch   office,   the   chamber  of   commerce 
shall  assign  all  affairs  of  the  said  branch  office  to  any  of  the  directors 
who  resides  or  is  in  transaction  of  business  in  the  place  where  the  branch 
office  has  been  set  up.    The  said  director  shall  be  appointed  as  manager 
in  charge. 

14.  In  accordance  with  the  above  mentioned  article,  if  there  are  more 
than  two  managers  in  the  branch  office,  among  them  one  shall  be  elected 
as  the  chief  manager  by  the  directors'  committee. 

15.  Officers  shall  be  employed  by  offices  or  branch  offices  of  general 
chambers  of  commerce  and  chambers  of  commerce. 

SECTION  III 
Duties  of  Officers 

16.  Duties  of  general  chambers  of  commerce  and  chambers  of  com- 
merce are  as  follows: 

1.  To  consult  about  industrial  and  commercial  reformation. 

2.  To  submit  suggestions  to  the  highest  executive  officials  of  the 

Central  Government,  or  the  local  executive  officials,  per- 
taining to  law  governing  the  mercantile  business  and  its 
amendment  and  cancellation,  and  in  regard  to  the  consequences 
of  industrial  and  commercial  enterprises. 

3.  To  furnish  information  in  response  to  the  inquiries  and  ques- 

tions made  by  the  central  executive  officials  or  the  local  execu- 
tive officials  in  regard  to  industrial  and  commercial  interests. 

4.  To  investigate  industrial  and  commercial  conditions  and  their 

statistics. 

5.  Upon  being  entrusted  by  an  industrial  or  commercial  party,  to 

investigate  a  certain  information  concerning  industrial  or  com- 
mercial matters,  or  to  verify  where  the  merchandise  is  pro- 
duced and  its  price. 

6.  To  collect  exhibits  for  expositions. 

7.  To  settle  industrial  and  commercial  disputes  at  request  of  a 

party  concerned. 

8.  Being  held  responsible  for  maintaining  order,  and  requesting 

the  local  executive  officials  to  do  the  same,  when  there  is  a 
money  panic. 

9.  Having  right  to  erect  a  building  for  exhibition  of  goods,  to 

establish  industrial  and  commercial  schools  and  other  public 
organizations  relative  to  industrial  and  commercial  interests, 
when  properly  approved  by  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and 
Commerce. 

17.  Besides  the  above  mentioned  duties,  general  chambers  of  com- 
merce have  to  assume  the  following  obligations: 

1.  To  settle  disputes  among  chambers  of  commerce  at  their  request. 

2.  To  cooperate,  when  necessary,  with  chambers  of  commerce  in 

the  matter  assigned  by  the  highest  executive  officials  of  the 
Central  Government  or  the  local  executive  officials. 


454  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

SECTION  IV 
Election  and  Period  of  Commission 

18.  Directors  are  to  be  elected  among  members  by  ballots,  and  they 
vote  by  ballot  for  the  president  and  vice-president. 

After  the  president,  vice-president  and  directors  have  been  elected, 
a  report  shall  be  submitted  to  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce 
through  the  highest  executive  official  and  the  local  high  executive  officials. 

19.  Special  directors  shall  be  elected  by  the  directors'  committee  from 
those  qualified  by  industrial  and  commercial  knowledge,  arts  and  expe- 
rience. 

After  special  directors  have  been  elected,  the  2nd  paragraph  of  the 
above  mentioned  ?iticle  shall  be  complied  with. 

20.  Members  have  right  to  vote  and  to  be  voted  for.    But  those  that 
have  the  right  to  be  voted  for  must  be  upward  of  30  years  of  age. 

21.  At  the  time  of  election  each  member  has  one  vote. 

22.  When  voting  by  ballot,  voters  shall  sign  their  names. 

23.  Commissions  for  the  president,  vice-president  and  directors  will 
expire  in  two  years.    If  they  vacate  their  posts  in  mid-term  the  commis- 
sions of  the  temporary  successors  will  expire  at  the  end  of  the  original 
two  years. 

24.  When  the  commissions  for  the  president,  vice-president  and  direct- 
ors have   expired   they   may   continue   for   another   period   if   they   are 
reflected.    But  they  are  limited  to  a  second  term. 

25.  Officers  shall  not  leave  their  posts  until  successors  have  assumed 
charge. 

SECTION  V 
Meetings 

26.  Chambers  of  commerce  have  right  to  hold  fixed  meetings  and 
special  meetings. 

27.  The  fixed  meetings  are  classified  into  annual  conference  and  meet- 
ings for  officers.    Annual  conference  is  to  be  held  once  a  year  and  meet- 
ings of  officers  more  than  twice  in  each  month.    The  number  of  special 
meetings  is  unlimited. 

28.  The  following  articles  shall  not  be  carried  out  until  more  than 
two  thirds  of  the  members  are  present.    No  motion  can  be  passed  unless 
it  is  approved  by  more  than  two  thirds  of  those  present  in  the  meeting. 

1.  Modification  of  regulations. 

2.  Resignation  and  dismissal  of  officers  and  deprivement  of  their 

right  of  being  voted  for. 

3.  Election    of    officers    for    liquidation    and    consultation    about 

the  same. 

Parts  i  and  3  cannot  be  effective  unless  they  are  considered  and 
approved  respectively  by  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce  and 
the  highest  executive  officials  of  the  locality. 

SECTION  VI 
Resignation  and  Punishment 

29.  Officers   who   are  found   guilty  in   connection   with   one  of   the 
following  items  shall  be  dismissed: 

I.    He  who  is  obliged  by  a  certain  condition  may  retire  if  this  has 
been  passed  in  a  meeting. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  455 

2.  He  who  fails  in  one  of  the  items  stated  in  paragraph  7. 

3.  He  who  is  negligent  in  duties  may  be  dismissed  after  a  motion 

is  passed  in  the  meeting. 

Officers  who  are  disobedient  to  law  or  have  conducted  themselves 
detrimentally  to  public  peace,  of  which  conduct  there  are  actual  evidences, 
will  be  instructed  to  resign,  either  by  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and 
Commerce  or  the  local  highest  executive  officials. 

30.  Officers  who  have  been  found  to  have  committed  malpractices  or 
have  indulged  in  acts  which  are  detrimental  to  public  peace,  may  be  dis- 
charged by  the  chamber  of  commerce  after  it  is  passed  by  the  general 
body. 

According  to  the  above  paragraph,  he  who  has  been  punished  with 
deprivement  of  his  name  (title)  has  no  right  of  being  voted  for  in  two 
years,  beginning  from  the  day  of  deprivement. 

SECTION  VII 
Expenditures 

31.  The  expenses  for  the  general  chambers  of  commerce  and  chambers 
of  commerce  are  classified  as  follows: 

1.  Expenses  for  offices. 

2.  Expenses  for  business. 

The  officers  of  the  chamber  are  held  responsible  for  the  expenses  of 
the  offices. 

32.  An  annual  report  should  be  prepared  for  decision  on  the  appro- 
priation for  the  expenditure  of  general  chambers  of  commerce  and  cham- 
bers of  commerce,  and  of  the  condition  of  their  accomplishment. 

33.  Besides  having  complied  with  the  above  mentioned  article,  general 
chambers  of  commerce  and  chambers  of  commerce  should  report  to  the 
Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce  the  annual  accomplishment.    The 
Ministry  has  the  right  to  send  for  the  appropriation  for  expenditures,  for 
the  purpose  of  examination. 

SECTION  VIII 
Dissolution  and  Liquidation 

34.  A  chamber  of  commerce  is  not  dissolved,  unless  it  is  approved  by 
upwards  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  in  the  meeting,  in  which  no  less 
than   three-fourths    of    members    are    present.     This    article    cannot   be 
recognized  as  effective  unless  the  motion  is  considered  and  approved  by 
the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce. 

35.  After  dissolution  of  a  chamber  of  commerce  and  during  the  time 
of  liquidation,  it  is  still  regarded  as  in  existence. 

36.  When  a  chamber  of  commerce  is  about  to  be  dissolved,  in  order 
to  comply  with  the  motion  passed,  officers   should  be  selected  for  the 
liquidation.     If  there  is  a  vacancy  among  the  officers  it  will  be  filled  by 
selection. 

37.  If  there  is  no  one  competent  to  manage  the  liquidation  the  local 
executive  officials  or  the  highest  executive  official  have  the  right  to  make 
appointment. 

38.  Liquidators  are  the  representatives  of  the  chamber  of  commerce 
and  have  authority  to  carry  out  the  affairs  of  liquidation. 

39.  The    method    decided   by   liquidators    for   the   settlement   of    the 
patrimony  should  be  considered  and  approved  by  the  chamber  of  com- 
merce. 

If  the  chamber  of  commerce  does  not  or  cannot  do  so,  liquidators 
should  themselves  decide  the  methods  of  liquidation  and  the  settlement 


456  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

of  the  patrimony.     Their  action  cannot  be  regarded  as  effective  unless 
it  is  approved  by  the  local  highest  executive  official. 

40.  After  the  dissolution  of  a  chamber  of  commerce,  its  members  are 
held  responsible  for  the  outstanding  debts,  if  any. 

SECTION  IX 
Remarks 

41.  General  chambers  of  commerce  and  chambers  of  commerce  have 
the  right  to  cooperate  for  organization  of  a  national  union  society  of 
the  chambers  of  commerce. 

In  the  National  Union  Society  an  office  shall  be  established. 
The  above  mentioned  two  paragraphs  should  have  the  approval  of  the 
Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce. 

42.  Before  this  law  is  carried  into  effect,  the  general  chambers  of 
commerce   should  remain  as  usual,   with  the   only  exception  that  those 
which  are  not  situated  in  the  places  where  the  highest  executive  officials 
reside  or  not  located  in  the  largest  commercial  ports  should  be  reorgan- 
ized into  chambers  of  commerce  after  investigation  of  the  Ministry  of 
Agriculture  and  Commerce. 

43.  Before  this  law  is  carried  into  effect,  branch  chambers  of  com- 
merce, or  branch  offices  of  chambers  of  commerce,  or  several  chambers 
of  commerce  in  a  same  district,  which  are  in  existence  and  in  agreement 
with  the  provisions  of  Article  4,  should  be  changed  and  reorganized  into 
chambers  of  commerce  or  branch  offices  of  chambers  of  commerce  within 
six  months  from  the  date  of  issuance  of  this  law,  in  strict  accordance 
with  articles  5  and  12.    The  rest  should  be  abolished. 

44.  Before  this  law  is  carried  into  effect,  general  industrial  societies, 
which  are  in  existence,  should  be  abolished  at  or  after  the  issuance  of  this 
law.    They  should  also  be  incorporated  with  the  chamber  of  commerce  in 
the  same  district  within  six  months.    If  there  is  no  chamber  of  commerce 
in  the  district  they  should  be  reorganized  into  a  chamber  of  commerce. 

When  they  have  incorporated  with,  or  reorganized  into  chambers  of 
commerce,  they  should  comply  with  Article  5  and  have  the  approval  of 
the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce. 

45.  The  extra  detailed  regulations  will  be  separately  enacted. 

46.  This  law  will  become  effective  on  the  date  of  issuance. 

DETAILED   SUPPLEMENTAL  REGULATIONS   FOR  THE 
ORGANIZATION   OF   CHAMBERS   OF   COMMERCE 

Promulgated  February  I,  1916 

Translated  by  William  S.  Howe,  American  Consul,  Hankow 
(Used  by  Special  Permission) 

Article  I.  A  general  chamber  of  commerce  and  a  chamber  of  com- 
merce shall  not  be  established  in  the  same  district  as  that  of  an  executive 
official.  This  does  not  include  those  in  existence  before  this  law  is  carried 
out,  nor  those  established  for  special  purposes  approved  by  the  Ministry 
of  Agriculture  and  Commerce. 

Article  2.  The  second  paragraph  of  Article  4  of  this  law  regarding 
the  sanctioning  of  the  establishment  of  additional  chambers  of  commerce 
includes  those  which  are,  except  those  being  in  existence  before  this  law  is 
carried  out,  as  far  as  more  than  30  li  from  the  original  chamber,  and  in  a 
situation  thought  to  be  equally  prosperous  and  important. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  457 

Article  3.  The  National  Union  Society  of  the  chambers  of  commerce 
will  be  organized  and  authorized  in  compliance  with  the  regulations 
approved  for  same  by  the  Board  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce  in  the 
last  regime.  If  there  is  any  amendment  to  be  made,  sanction  must  be 
obtained  from  the  present  Ministry. 

Article  4.  General  ^  chambers  of  commerce  and  chambers  of  commerce 
which  have  public  decision  halls  for  deciding  cases  must  have  them  reor- 
ganized into  branch  offices  or  abolished  in  accordance  with  this  law. 
After  their  reorganization,  chambers  may  still  set  up  public  decision  halls, 
but  the  officers  for  these  organizations  should  be  listed  and  submitted 
through  the  highest  executive  officer  for  the  approval  of  the  said  Ministry. 

General  chambers  and  chambers  which  have  established  such  halls  can 
assign  those  matters  for  their  action,  to  which  matters  the  seventh  para- 
graph of  Article  16  and  the  first  paragraph  of  Article  17  apply. 

Article  5.  At  the  time  of  election,  as  stated  in  Articles  21  and  22,  a 
fifteen  days'  notice  should  be  circulated  to  those  haying  right  to  vote  and 
the  local  highest  executive  official  or  executive  officials  must  be  requested 
to  be  present  at  the  time  due.  On  the  day  appointed,  the  votes  will  be 
opened  before  the  meeting.  If  the  elects,  after  receipt  of  notice  of  their  be- 
ing elected,  have  not  assumed  charge  after  a  period  of  fifteen  days,  those 
who  have  received  the  number  of  votes  next  to  them  will  take  their  place. 

Article  6.  After  the  president,  vice-president  and  directors  have  been 
elected,  their  names,  ages,  origin  and  parentage,  addresses,  commercial 
business  and  names  of  firms,  shall  be  listed  and  submitted  through  the 
local  highest  executive  official  or  local  executive  officials  for  the  files  of 
the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce.  They  should  also  report  to 
the  Ministry  the  day  on  which  they  assumed  charge.  Those  who  succeed 
to  the  same  post,  or  those  who  take  others'  places  in  the  case  of  unexpired 
terms,  should  do  the  same. 

Article  7.  The  officers  referred  to  in  Article  15  of  this  law  include 
employees,  not  elected  officers. 

Article  8.  In  accordance  with  the  second  paragraph  of  Article  12, 
the  establishment  and  authority  of  an  additional  branch  office  should  be 
decided  by  the  majority  of  members  of  the  general  chamber  of  commerce 
or  chamber  of  commerce. 

In  accordance  with  Article  43,  the  reorganization  and  authority  of  a 
branch  office  should  be  decided  jointly  by  the  body  of  the  original  organ- 
ization and  the  chamber  of  commerce. 

Article  9.  When  general  chambers  of  commerce  or  chambers  of  com- 
merce have  established  branch  offices,  one  or  more  directors  should  be 
marked  out  for  the  future  eligibles  for  election  in  charge  of  said  branch 
office. 

Article  10.  When  a  certain  affair  happens  in  a  branch  office  in  con- 
nection with  local  officials,  correspondence  should  be  addressed  by  the 
general  chamber  of  commerce  or  chamber  of  commerce  concerned,  to 
the  officials,  and  the  reverse. 

Article  u.  When  a  chamber  of  commerce  is  reorganized  in  accord- 
ance with  Articles  42  and  43,  the  qualifications  of  members  should  be  first 
investigated.  They  will  be  recognized  as  members  of  the  new  chamber  of 
commerce  if  the  qualifications  are  found  in  agreement  with  what  is  stipu- 
lated in  Articles  6  and  7. 

Article  12.  When  a  chamber  of  commerce  is  coalesced  in  accordance 
with  Article  44,  an  investigation  should  be  made  as  to  the  qualifications 
of  members  of  the  general  industrial  society  or  the  branch  society.  They 
will  be  recognized  as  members  of  the  new  chamber  of  commerce,  if  the 
qualifications  are  found  in  agreement  with  the  stipulations  of  Articles 
6  and  7. 


458  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

Article  13.  Dispatches  from  general  chambers  of  commerce  and  the 
National  Union  Society  of  Commerce  to  the  Ministries  of  the  Central 
Government  and  the  local  highest  executive  officials  should  be  addressed 
in  the  form  of  a  petition,  while  in  addressing  the  local  executive  officials 
the  letter  form  shall  be  used. 

Dispatches  from  chambers  of  commerce  to  the  Ministries  of  the  Cen- 
tral Government  and  all  the  executive  officials  should  be  addressed  in 
the  form  of  a  petition,  and  to  magistrates  in  the  form  of  letters. 

The  dispatches  between  chambers  of  commerce,  or  the  National  Union 
Society  of  Chambers,  should  be  in  letter  form. 

Article  14.  Dispatches  addressed  to  the  Ministries  of  the  Central 
Government  by  general  chambers  of  commerce  and  the  National  Union 
Society  of  Chambers  should  be  submitted  through  the  highest  executive 
official,  besides  sending  a  copy  for  the  files  of  the  local  official.  If  the 
chamber  of  commerce  wishes  to  address  the  Ministries  it  should  submit 
the  communication  to  the  local  executive  official  for  transmission  to  the 
highest  executive  official;  and  then  from  there  it  will  be  forwarded  to 
the  Ministries.  This  does  not  apply  to  those  in  the  case  of  emergency. 

Article  15.  Before  this  law  is  carried  into  effect  the  Chinese  chambers 
of  commerce  abroad  and  the  branch  chambers  of  commerce  there  should 
comply  with  the  nomenclature  of  this  law  in  regard  to  the  titles  of  the 
Chinese  general  chambers  of  commerce,  and  Chinese  chambers  of  com- 
merce, president,  vice-president  and  directors. 

Article  16.  When  Chinese  general  chambers  of  commerce  and  Chinese 
chambers  of  commerce  are  organized  abroad,  regulations  should  be  drawn 
up  and  submitted  for  the  approval  of  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and 
Commerce  through  the  consuls  in  the  vicinity. 

While  in  the  place  where  a  Chinese  general  chamber  of  commerce 
or  a  Chinese  chamber  of  commerce  is  organized,  they  should  petition 
the  Chinese  Legation  for  the  approval  of  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture 
and  Commerce. 

Article  17.  In  accordance  with  the  first  paragraph  of  Article  13  of 
these  present  Regulations  the  Chinese  general  chambers  of  commerce 
should  address  the  Legation  in  the  form  of  a  petition,  and  consuls  general 
and  consuls  in  the  form  of  a  letter. 

Chinese  chambers  of  commerce  should  address  petitions  to  their 
Legation  and  consuls  general,  in  accordance  with  the  second  paragraph 
of  above  mentioned  Article  and  letters  to  their  consuls. 

Third  paragraph  of  Article  13  applies  to  Chinese  general  chambers  of 
commerce  and  Chinese  chambers  of  commerce. 

Article  18.  Seals  for  general  chambers  of  commerce  and  the  National 
Union  Society  of  Chambers  and  the  stamps  for  chambers  of  commerce 
will  be  issued  by  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce.  The  old 
ones  should  be  forwarded  to  the  Ministry  in  exchange  for  the  new  ones. 

Article  19.  These  detailed  supplemental  Regulations  will  come  into 
effect  on  the  date  of  issuance. 


REGULATIONS  OF  THE  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE  OF  PEKING 

Section  I 
Name  and  Purpose 

Art.  i.  This  organization  is  organized  according  to  the  new  Regula- 
tions for  commercial  organizations  and  is  hereafter  called  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  of  Peking. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  459 

Art.  2.    The  purposes  of  this  organization  are: 

1.  To  bring  about  friendly  relations  between  the  merchants  and 

workmen. 

2.  To  conduct  research  studies  on  industrial  and  commercial  ques- 

tions. 

3.  To  develop  industrial  and  commercial  enterprises. 

4.  To  strengthen  all  commercial  enterprises. 

5.  To  settle  disputes  between  workmen  and  merchants. 

6.  To  look  after  the  conditions  of  the  market. 

Art.  3.  The  old  commercial  organizations  of  Peking,  gilds,  clubs,  etc., 
which  are  organized  by  the  people  of  the  same  business  or  trade  are  differ- 
ent from  the  commercial  organizations  specified  in  the  new  regulations, 
and  so  do  not  need  to  change  their  organization  or  rules. 

Section  II 
Location 

Art.  4.  The  headquarters  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  are  located 
at  Hsi  Chu  Shih  K'ou  in  the  South  City.  The  land  was  bought  and  the 
building  erected  with  money  contributed  by  the  merchants  of  Peking. 

Section  III 
Election  and  Term  of  Office 

Art.  5.  A  president  and  a  vice-president  and  board  of  directors  (15-30 
members)  are  to  be  elected  by  the  members  according  to  Articles  20  and 
21  of  the  Regulations  for  Commercial  Organizations. 

Art.  6.  As  specified  in  Art.  19  of  the  Regulations  for  Commercial 
Organizations,  special  councilmen  are  to  be  chosen  from  those  who  have 
exceptional  ability  or  who  have  some  definite  industrial  training  and  expe- 
rience. The  number  of  special  directors  cannot  be  over  one-fifth  of  the 
number  of  regular  directors. 

Art.  7.  There  is  no  limit  to  the  number  of  members.  All  those  who 
fulfill  the  qualifications  in  Articles  6  and  7  of  the  Regulations  for  Com- 
mercial Organizations  are  eligible  for  membership,  but  must  be  recom- 
mended by  at  least  two  members  of  the  Chamber. 

Art.  8.  The  president,  vice-president  and  directors  are  honorary  offi- 
cers and  receive  no  salary. 

Art.  9.  The  president,  vice-president  and  directors  are  elected  for  a 
term  of  two  years,  but  they  may  be  reflected  for  another  term.  Those 
appointed  to  fill  vacancies  hold  office  only  for  the  unexpired  time  of  the 
original  term. 

Art.  10.  The  retiring  officers  shall  remain  in  office  until  the  newly 
elected  officers  take  up  their  duties. 

Section  IV 

Meetings 

Art.  n.  The  organization  has  four  kinds  of  meetings:  the  annual 
meeting,  the  monthly  meeting,  the  officers'  meeting  and  the  special  meet- 
ing. In  the  first  month  of  every  year,  there  is  an  annual  meeting  of  all 
the  members.  The  officers  meet  twice  each  month.  The  president,  vice- 
president  and  directors  meet  every  Saturday.  In  case  of  important  busi- 
ness, the  president  and  vice-president  may  call  special  meetings.  If  any 
director  has  some  particular  proposals  to  bring  before  the  membership 
of  the  chamber  and  is  joined  in  his  request  for  a  special  meeting  by  five 


460  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

other  directors,  a  special  meeting  shall  be  called  for  the  particular  purpose 
of  considering  those  proposals. 

Art  12.  At  all  meetings,  annual,  monthly,  officers'  and  special,  a 
majority  must  be  present  before  any  business  can  be  transacted  by  the 
meeting.  A  majority  vote  of  those  present  is  required  to  pass  any  motion. 

Art.  13.  In  case  any  of  those  matters  specified  in  Art.  28  of  the  Regu- 
lations for  Commercial  Organizations  are  to  be  considered  by  a  meeting, 
two-thirds  of  the  membership  must  be  present  at  the  meeting,  and  any 
motion  to  be  effective,  must  receive  the  approval  of  two-thirds  of  those 
present. 

Art.  14.  The  president  occupies  the  chair  at  all  meetings.  If  he  is 
absent,  the  vice-president  takes  his  place.  If  neither  the  president  nor 
vice-president  is  present,  one  of  the  directors  shall  be  elected  to  act  as 
chairman  of  the  meeting. 

Art.  15.  In  case  of  a  tie  vote,  the  chairman  of  the  meeting  casts  the 
deciding  vote. 

Art.  16.  All  motions  passed  shall  be  put  into  effect  immediately.  If 
any  difficulty  arises  in  executing  a  motion,  the  chairman  shall  refer  the 
motion  to  the  next  meeting  for  reconsideration. 

Art.  17.  The  rules  to  be  observed  at  the  meetings  will  be  drawn  up 
separately. 

Section  V 
Reorganisation 

Art.  18.  The  affairs  of  reorganization  are  carried  out  with  reference 
to  Arts.  1 6  and  17  of  the  Regulations  for  Commercial  Organizations. 

Section  VI 
Official  Duties 

Art.  19.  The  president  shall  take  charge  of  all  the  affairs  of  the 
organization  and  the  vice-president  shall  assist  him  in  caring  for  the  same. 
In  the  absence  of  the  president,  the  vice-president  will  act  in  the  place 
of  the  president. 

Art.  20.  The  directors  are  to  assist  in  and  supervise  the  affairs  of 
the  organization. 

Art  21.  All  inquiries  of  the  directors  concerning  matters  within  the 
official  duties  of  the  executives  must  be  answered  in  detail. 

Art.  22.    The  employed  officers  and  their  official  duties  are  as  follows : 

(1)  A  business  manager,  who,  under  the  direction  of  the  president, 
will  take  charge  of  all  business  affairs  of  the  organization. 

(2)  A  secretary,  who,  under  the  direction  of  the  president,  will  take 
care  of  the  correspondence  and  other  literary  work  of  the  organization. 

(3)  An  accountant,  who,  under  the  direction  of  the  president,  will 
keep  a  record  of  the  income  and  expenditures  of  the  organization  and 
publish  monthly  and  annual  reports. 

(4)  Clerks,  who,  under  the  direction  of  the  business  manager  and 
the  secretary,  will  do  all  the  writing  and  copying. 

(5)  The  number  of  clerks  is  not  fixed,  and  the  president  will  employ 
as  many  as  the  work  of  the  organization  requires. 

(6)  The  above  executives  are  required  to  stay  in  the  building  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Section  VII 
Settlement  of  Disputes 

Art.  23.  This  organization  will  be  responsible  for  settling  disputes 
between  workmen  and  merchants.  A  commission  for  making  just  settle- 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  461 

ments  is  established  in  connection  with  this  organization  and  its  rules  and 
regulations  are  drawn  up  separately. 

Section  VIII 
Resignations  and  Dismissals 

Art.  24.  After  being  elected  to  an  office,  members  are  not  allowed  to 
resign  unless  there  are  special  grounds  for  so  doing. 

Art.  25.  The  dismissal  of  any  officer  is  decided  upon  by  a  meeting 
of  the  members  according  to  Articles  29  and  30  of  the  Regulations  for 
Commercial  Organizations. 

Art.  26.  The  officers,  on  account  of  important  business,  may  te  absent 
from  meetings,  but,  if  they  are  absent  three  times  in  succession  without 
having  special  permission  to  be  absent,  they  will  show  that  they  mean 
to  overlook  their  official  duties  and  must  therefore  be  punished  or  dis- 
missed as  is  decided  upon  by  the  members. 

Art.  27.  The  president  will  retain  or  dismiss  the  employed  executives, 
depending  upon  whether  they  are  diligent  or  lazy  in  performing  their 
work. 

Section  IX 

Expenses 

Art.  28.  The  merchants  provide  the  expenses  of  the  organization.  In 
case  of  special  expenses,  a  meeting  shall  be  immediately  called  to  order, 
to  formulate  plans  to  meet  the  same. 

Art.  29.  An  annual  report  of  the  income  and  expenditures  of  this 
organization  is  published  at  the  end  of  each  year.  It  is  to  be  presented 
to  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce  for  examination  and  to  be 
distributed  to  the  members  for  reference. 

Art.  30.  As  set  forth  in  the  Regulations  for  Commercial  Organizations, 
an  estimate  must  be  made  every  year  of  the  expenses  for  the  coming 
year. 

Section  X 

Supplement 

Art.  31.  These  regulations  will  go  into  effect  on  the  day  that  they 
are  approved  by  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce. 

Art.  32.  These  regulations  may  be  amended  according  to  Article  28 
of  the  Regulations  for  Commercial  Organizations. 

GILDS  AND  OTHER  ORGANIZATIONS  BELONGING  TO  PEKING 
CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE 

1919 

NUMBER       REPRESENTA-     REPRESEN- 
OF  STORES      TIVES  IN  THE   TATIVES  ON 
BELONGING    CHAMBER  OF     THE  BOARD 
TYPE  OF  BUSINESS  TO  THE  GILD      COMMERCE     OF  DIRECTORS 

1.  Telegraph   i  I  — 

2.  Telephone 3  I  — 

3.  Banks  18  30  — 

4.  Companies    6  6  I 

5.  Salt  Gabelle I  3  — 

6.  Cotton  Weaving  Co I  I  — 

7.  Manufacturing  Co.,  Peking  i  2  — 

8.  Exchange  Bank  for  Bonds i  4  — 


462  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

NUMBER  REPRESENTA-  REPRESEN- 
OF  STORES  TIVES  IN  THE  TATIVES  ON 
BELONGING  CHAMBER  OF  THE  BOARD 

TYPE  OF  BUSINESS                                       TO  THE  GILD     COMMERCE  OF  DIRECTORS 

9.  Manufacturing  Companies   2  2 

10.  Domestic  Exchange  Bank 721 

11.  Gold  and  Silver  Shop 29  2  3 

12.  Native  Banks   95  6  — 

13.  Small  Loan  Banks 33  2 

14.  Stove  Shops  64  2  i 

15.  Pawn  Shops 72  7  I 

16.  Rice  Shops  34  2  I 

17.  Rice  and  Vermicelli  Shops 348  I 

18.  Rice,  Vermicelli  and  other  things. .  33  3 

19.  Rice,  Wheat,  Grocery  Shops 34  4 

20.  Wine  Shops  7  2  I 

21.  Sesame  and  Oil  Shops 32  3  — 

22.  Oil,  Wine,  Vinegar  Shops 191  6  — 

23.  Dry  Goods  and  Grocery  Shops 150  2 

24.  Fresh  Fruit  Shops  70  2  I 

25.  Restaurants    62  5  4 

26.  South  and  North  Vegetable  Shops.  141  2  — 

27.  Fish  Shops 3i  2 

28.  Pig  Shops   64  3  — 

29.  Meat  Shops  94  — 

30.  Satin  and  Foreign  Goods  Shops  81  3 

31.  Cloth  Shops 193  i 

32.  Cotton  Shops   42  3 

33.  Fur  Shops   203  6  I 

34.  Wool  Shops 78  4  — 

t  Cloth  Selling  Shops  214  4 

Shoe  Shops 94  4 

37.  Jewelers 100  3 

38.  Watch  Shops   124  6 

39.  Curio  Shops 171  2 

40.  Jade  Stores  93  7 

41.  Mongolian  Stores   149 

42.  Tea  Stores  121  I  — 

43.  Tobacco  Stores 82  3  — 

44.  Coal  Stores  86  6  2 

45.  Petroleum  Stores 52  6  I 

46.  Chinese  Medical  Shops 152  7  i 

47.  Incense  and  Medicine  Shops  85  4  * 

48.  Foreign  Dispensaries   32  2 

49.  Dyeing  Material  Stores 62  2  — 

50.  Dyeing  Shops  ; . .  4°  2  I 

51.  Spinning,     Weaving     and     Dyeing 

Shops  27  3  — 

52.  Cash  Shops  238  3  — 

53.  Hotels   55  2  2 

54.  Ts'ai  Yu  Town  Gild  19  —  — 

55.  Fang  Shan  Hsien  Gild 119  10 

Total    4,597  270  35 

Representatives  of  23  stores  cannot  be  located  with  their  respective 
gilds,  from  the  information  at  hand. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  463 

REGULATIONS  FOR  THE  COURTS  OF  CHAMBERS  OF 
COMMERCE 

I.    General  Regulations 

1.  A  chamber  of  commerce  court  shall  be  part  of  the  chamber  of 
commerce. 

2.  In   case  there   is   a  dispute  between   one  merchant  and   another 
merchant  or  one  commercial  business  and  another  commercial  business, 
the  court  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  can  act  as  arbitrator,  thus  pre- 
venting appeals  and  ending  enmities. 

3.  The  place  of  meeting  of  the  court  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  is 
to  be  determined  by  the  president  or  vice-president  of  the  chamber  of 
commerce,  according  to  the  amount  of  business. 

4.  The  expenses  incurred  in  the  organization  and  running  of  such  a 
court  are  to  be  borne  by  the  chamber  of  commerce. 

II.    Organisation 

5.  A  court  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  shall  have  the  following 
officers  and  members: 

a.  Chairman,  b.  Members  of  Conference,  c.  Investigators,  d.  Writers. 

6.  In   a   court  of  the   chamber   of   commerce,   there   should  be  one 
chairman,  nine  to  twenty  members  of  conference,  two  to  six  investigators 
and  two  to  six  writers,  according  to  the  amount  of  business  to  be  done. 

7.  Chairman,  members  of  conference  and  investigators  are  all  nominal 
positions.    The  payment  of  reward  to  each  is  limited  to  thirty  dollars  a 
month  or  under. 

Writers'  salaries  are  to-  be  fixed  according  to  local  conditions. 

III.    Election  of  Staff  and  Term  of  Service 

8.  Members  of  conference  and  investigators  are  to  be  elected  from 
the    members    of    the    chamber   of    commerce.      Those   who    receive    a 
majority  of  votes  will  be  elected.    In  case  two  persons  receive  the  same 
number  of  votes,  the  winner  shall  be  determined  by  the  drawing  of  lots. 
Voting  shall  be  by  ballot. 

9.  At  the  same  time  that  the  members  of  conference  and  investigators 
are  elected,  a  group  of  alternates  shall  be  elected.    The  number  of  alter- 
nates shall  be  one-third  that  of  the  regular  members  and  investigators. 

10.  The  chairman  shall  be  elected  from  the  members  of  conference. 

11.  The  regulations  for  the  appointment  of  writers  are  to  be  fixed 
by  a  meeting  of  the  chairman  of  the  court  and  the  president  or  vice- 
president  of  the  chamber  of  commerce. 

12.  The  term  of  service  of  a  member  of  conference  or  an  investi- 
gator is  limited  to  two  years,  but  all  persons  are  eligible  for  reelection. 

13.  When  the  chairman  cannot  be  present  in  the  Court,  tfie  member 
of  conference  whose  name  appears  first  in  the  list  shall  act  in  his  stead. 

IV.    Powers  of  the  Court 

14.  Cases  to  be  brought  before  the  court  of  the  chamber  of  commerce 
are  limited  to  the  following: 

1.  When,  prior  to  an  appeal  in  a  court  of  justice,  the  parties 
to  a  dispute  agree  to  bring  their  case  before  the  court  of  the 
chamber  of  commerce; 

2.  When,  after  an  appeal  to  a  court  of  justice,  the  court  entrusts 


464  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

to  the  court  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  the  work  of  bringing 
about  a  compromise  between  the  two  parties. 

15.  Cases  brought  before  a  court  of  justice  may  be  withdrawn  from 
the  court,  if  the  parties  agree  to  compromise  or  if  the  court  entrusts  the 
court  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  with  the  duty  of  bringing  about  a 
compromise. 

16.  When  certain  actions  are  necessary  before  decision  can  be  arrived 
at,  and  these  actions  are  not  within  the  powers  of  the  members  of  con- 
ference, a  petition  may  be  sent  to  the  court  of  justice  requesting  it  to 
use  the  authority  necessary  to  bring  about  the  required  actions. 

17.  The  decision  given  by  the  members  of  conference  is  effective  only 
if  accepted  by  the  interested  parties. 

18.  If  the  two  parties  are  unwilling  to  accept  the  decision  given  by 
the  members  of  conference,  an  appeal  may  be  taken  to  a  court  of  justice. 

19.  When  a  decision  given  by  the  members  of  conference,  and  accepted 
by  the  interested  parties,  can  be  carried  out  only  by  the  exertion  of  force, 
a  petition  must  be  sent  to  the  court  in  charge  of  the  district  notifying  it 
of  the  decision,  and  requesting  it  to  enforce  the  decision. 

20.  The  party  at  fault  shall  pay  the  expenses  incident  to  the  decision 
of  the  court  of  the  chamber  of  commerce.     If  both  parties  are  at  fault, 
they  shall  divide  the  expense.     In  no  case  shall  the  expense  exceed  two 
percent  of  the  value  of  the  article  in  dispute. 

21.  The  members  of  conference  must  notify  and  obtain  the  consent 
of  both  parties  before  incurring  the  expenses  mentioned  in  Rule  20. 

22.  The  members  of  conference,  when  examining  a  case,  may  ask  any 
person  to  be  witness,  but  witnesses  cannot  be  forced  to  appear  in  court 
or  sign  a  bond  for  security. 

23.  Before  giving  a  decision,  the  members  of  conference  must  get  all 
the  information  available  from  all  persons  who  have  any  knowledge  of 
the  case,  and  in  case  of  necessity  must  conduct  a  special  investigation 
either  in  person  or  through  one  of  the  investigators  of  the  court. 

24.  The  chairman  is  in  charge  of  all  the  business  of  the  court  of  the 
chamber  of  commerce. 

V.    Decisions 

25.  The  court  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  shall,  within  three  days 
of  the  receipt  of  a  petition  requesting  it  to  hear  a  case,  issue  a  notice 
setting  a  date   for  the   hearing.     This  rule  applies   whether  the  case  is 
referred  to  the  court  by  the  interested  parties  or  by  a  court  of  justice. 

26.  At  the  opening  of  the  trial,  all  parties  must  be  present.    If  one 
of  the  parties  is  absent,  no  decision  can  be  given. 

27.  Investigators,  who  have  been  entrusted  with  the  investigation  of 
a  certain  case,  and  who  have  obtained  sufficient  information  on  the  same, 
must  report  in  full  detail  to  the  members  of  conference  who  are  hearing 
the  case. 

28.  When  a  dispute  in  connection  with  commercial  business  is  put  on 
trial,  three  or  five  of  the  members  of  conference  shall  act  as  judges,  said 
members  to  be  chosen  by  lot  from  the  members  of  conference.     The  lots 
shall  be  drawn  by  the  chairman  of  the  court.     Just  before  the  trial,  the 
members  chosen  to  hear   the  case  shall   meet  and  appoint  one  of   the 
number  to  act  as  their  head. 

29.  Decisions  are  to  be  determined  by  ballot.     In  case  of  a  tie,  the 
head  member  of  conference  has  the  deciding  vote. 

30.  The  chairman  of  the  court  of  the  chamber  of   commerce  may 
order  a  member  of  conference,  chosen  to  hear  a  case,  to  retire,  if,  for 
any  reason,  it  appears  that  he  should  not  judge  the  case  in  question. 

31.  When  a  member  of  conference  finds  that,  for  some  reason,  he 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  465 

cannot  attach  his  signature  to  a  certain  decision,  he  may  ask  to  be  per- 
mitted to  withdraw  from  the  case. 

32.  Any  person,  connected  in  any  way  with  a  case,  who  has  objections 
that  might  prevent  the  signing  of  the  decision  by  any  of  the  members  of 
conference,  is  entitled  to  lay  his  objections  before  the  court. 

33.  In  event  of  the  occurrence  of  any  of  the  things  set  forth  in  Rules 
30  to  32,  the  chairman   of   the  court  must  submit  the  case  to  a  new 
board  and  have  them  sign  their  decision. 

34.  After  a  case  has  been  decided  by  the  members  of  conference,  an 
outline  of  the  decision,  together  with  the  date  on  which  it  is  given,  is  to 
be  made,  signed  and  sealed  by  the  members,   and  given  to  the  parties 
concerned.     If  the  case  has  been  brought  before  a  court  of  justice,  a 
copy  of  the  decision  is  to  be  forwarded  to  that  court. 

VI.    Control  of  Staff 

35.  The  chairman  of  the  court  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  may 
discharge  any  of  the  staff  who: 

1.  Neglects  his  duty, 

2.  Behaves  badly,  or  who  becomes  untrustworthy. 

36.  When  damage  is  done  to  an  interested  party  through  the  neglect 
of  duty  by  any  of  the  staff  of  the  court  of  the  chamber  of  commerce, 
compensation  corresponding  to  the  damage  done  must  be  given  to  the 
parties  by  said  staff. 

VII.    Appendix 

37.  As  soon  as  these  regulations  are  enforced,  all  previously  enacted 
rules  for  courts  of  chambers  of  commerce  will  be  invalid. 

38.  All  changes  of  these  regulations  are  to  be  adopted  after  consul- 
tation of  the  Ministry  of  Justice  and  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and 
Commerce. 

39.  Detailed   rules    leading   to   the   enforcement    of    regulations    for 
courts  of  chamber   of   commerce  are  to  be  adopted   later  by  the  two 
Ministries  named  in  the  preceding  rule. 

DETAILED   RULES   FOR   CHAMBER   OF  COMMERCE   COURTS 

ADOPTED  BY  THE  MINISTRY  OF  JUSTICE  AND  THE 

MINISTRY  OF  AGRICULTURE  AND  COMMERCE 

I.    General  Regulations 

1.  The  Chamber  of  Commerce  Courts  shall   settle  disputes  between 
merchants,  according  to  the  regulations  for  such  courts  jointly  adopted 
by  the  Ministry  of  Justice  and  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Com- 
merce.    The  operation  of  such  is  controlled  by  these  detailed  rules  in 
addition  to  the  above  regulations. 

2.  The  court  of  a  chamber  of  commerce  shall  be  known  as  part  of 
that  chamber,  and  shall  be  called  by  the  name  of  the  district  in  which 
it  is  located. 

3.  All  dispatches  sent  from  the  court  to  outside  parties  shall  be  signed 
by  the  chairman  of  the  court,  who  is  responsible  for  making  all  necessary 
corrections  in  said  dispatches,  which  shall  be  sealed  with  the  seal  of  the 
chamber  of  commerce. 

4.  All   expenses  incurred  in  the  organization  and  operation  of  the 
court  are  to  be  paid  by  the  chamber  of   commerce,  the  president  and 
vice-president  of  the  chamber  being  responsible  for  the  auditing  of  all 


466  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  court.  All  receipts,  valuable  documents 
and  money  paid  as  compensation  for  losses  shall  be  turned  over  by  the 
chairman  of  the  court  to  the  chamber  of  commerce  for  safe  keeping. 

5.  All  cases  brought  before  a  chamber  of  commerce  court  are  to  be 
decided  according  to  local  commercial  practice  where  such  practice  does 
not  contravene  the  stipulations  of  the  law  of  the  country. 

6.  In  the  absence  of  a  court  of  justice  in  any  district,  the  yamen  in 
charge  of  the  legal  business  of  the  district  shall  be  responsible  for  the 
duties  belonging  to  courts  of  justice,  as  set  forth  in  the  Regulations  for 
Courts  of  Chambers  of  Commerce  and  in  these  detailed  rules. 

i 

II.    Election  of  Staff 

7.  The  election  of  the  staff  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  court  shall 
be  conducted  according  to  Rules  n  and  28  of  the  Regulations.    All  voting 
shall  be  done  by  ballot.     Those  who  have  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast 
shall  be  elected. 

If  two  persons  receive  the  same  number  of  votes,  the  man  who  is  the 
older  will  be  elected.  If  the  men  are  of  the  same  age,  the  winner  will 
be  determined  by  lot. 

The  same  method  of  election  shall  be  used  in  electing  "Alternates." 

8.  If  the  number  of  persons  present  is  not  sufficient  to  carry  on  the 
business  of  the  court,  more  are  to  be  elected  until  a  sufficient  number  is 
obtained. 

9.  The  election  of  the  staff  of  the  court  shall  be  held  on  a  day  fixed 
by  the  president  of  the  chamber  of  commerce.     Notice  of  such  election 
shall  be  given  at  least  ten  days  prior  to  the  election.  , 

10.  After  the  election,  the  chamber  of  commerce  shall  prepare  cer- 
tificates of  election  and  send  same  to  those  elected,  together  with  a  letter 
requesting  them  to  assume  the  office  to  which  they  have  been  elected. 

The  names,  ages,  birth-places,  addresses,  occupations  and  number  of 
votes  received  by  those  elected  shall  be  reported  to  the  provincial  authori- 
ties through  the  local  officials.  The  provincial  authorities  will  forward 
the  report  to  the  proper  ministry  in  Peking,  where  it  will  be  recorded. 
Where  there  are  courts  of  justice  in  the  same  district  as  the  chamber  of 
commerce  court,  a  copy  of  the  above  report  shall  be  filed  with  the  court 
of  justice. 

11.  A  man  elected  to  an  office  cannot  refuse  to  serve  except  for  very 
special  reasons. 

12.  In  case  the  chairman  of  the  court  is  unable  to  continue  his  duties, 
another  person  shall  be  elected  in  his  place.    In  the  same  way,  the  alter- 
nates are  to  take,  in  turn,  any  vacancies  among  the  members  of   con- 
ference or  the  investigators.    Those  who  fill  vacancies  are  to  hold  office 
for  the  unexpired  portion  of  the  term  to  which  their  predecessor  was 
elected. 

13.  The  court  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  may  employ  servants  to 
deliver  despatches,  notify  interested  parties  and  attend  to  the  laborious 
duties  of  the  court.    The  number  shall  depend  upon  the  amount  of  work 
to  be  done.    Servants  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  may  also  be  servants 
of  the  court  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  at  the  same  time. 

III.    Powers  of  the  Court 

14.  A  court  of  a  chamber  of  commerce  must  accept  only  the  following 
cases : 

(a)     Those  described  in  Article  14  of  the  Regulations  for  Courts 
of  Chambers  of  Commerce. 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  467 

(b)  Those  that  have  to  do  with  matters  that  are  within  the  scope 
of  the  chamber  of  commerce  and  that  are  in  the  same 
district  as  the  court. 

15.  If  the  parties  to  a  dispute  do  not  belong  to  the  same  chamber  of 
commerce,  they  may,  by  agreement,  decide  on  a  court  whose  mediation 
they  will  accept. 

16.  Cases    of    the    following    nature    must    not    be    accepted    by   the 
chamber  of  commerce  courts : 

(a)  Cases  unconnected  with  or  unimportant  to  commerce. 

(b)  Cases  having  to  do  with  civil  or  criminal  questions. 

(c)  Cases  unsupported  by  witnesses  or  proof  of  some  sort. 

(d)  Cases  originating  from  unlawful  business. 

(e)  Cases  appealed  after  the  surrender  of  all  rights. 

(f)  Cases  brought  in  by  one  party  only  and  where  the  desires  of 

the  second  party  are  ignored. 

17.  If  cases   of  the  above  character  are  referred  to  a  chamber  of 
commerce  court  by  a  court  of  justice,  they  must  be  returned  to  the  court 
of  justice  for  trial  and  decision. 

18.  If  both  interested  parties  are  willing  to  transfer  a  case  from  a 
court  of  justice  to  a  chamber  of  commerce  court,  they  shall  file  with  the 
court  of  justice,  a  joint  petition  requesting  such  transfer.    Unless  a  copy 
of  such  petition,  together  with  the  sanction  of  the  court  of  justice,  be 
sent  to  the  chamber  of  commerce  court,  the  latter  court  shall  not  accept 
the  case. 

19.  If  a  case  being  heard  by  the  chamber  of  commerce  court,  but  not 
yet  decided,  is   settled   by  outside   mediation,   the   interested   parties   are 
required  to  give  a  report  of  the  settlement  of  the  case,  and  each  has  to 
file  with  the  court  a  petition  that  the  case  be  dismissed.     If  the  case  has 
been  previously  brought  before  a  court  of  justice,  the  chamber  of  com- 
merce court  shall   secure  applications  for  dismissal  from  the  interested 
parties  and  forward  same  to  the  court  of  justice. 

20.  Article  20  of  the  Regulations  for  Courts  of  Chambers  of  Com- 
merce states  that  the  expenses  of  an  investigation  shall  be  borne  by  the 
interested  parties.    If,  however,  the  names  of  the  interested  parties  have 
been  registered  in  the  chamber  of  commerce,  thus  making  them  respon- 
sible for  annual  subscriptions  to  the  court  of  the  chamber  of  commerce, 
they  shall  pay  only  one-half  the  highest  rate  fixed  by  the  Regulations, 
viz.,  a  maximum  of  I  percent  of  the  value  of  the  property  involved. 

IV.    Powers,  Rewards,  Etc.,  of  the  Staff  of  a  Chamber  of  Commerce 

Court 

21.  According   to   Article   24   of   the   Regulations    for    Chamber   of 
Commerce  Courts,  the  chairman  of  the  court  is  made  responsible   for 
the  entire  business  of  the  court,  but,  except  where  the  enforcement  of  a 
decision  is  concerned,  the  president  and  vice-president  of  the  chamber  of 
commerce  must  be  consulted  regarding  all  important  matters  connected 
with  the  court. 

22.  The  powers  of   the  members  of  conference  are  determined  by 
Articles   16,   19  and  23  of  the  Regulations   for  Chamber  of  Commerce 
Courts.     If  any  member  exceeds  his  powers  of  action  or  does  not  act  in 
accordance  with  the  above  rules,  his  acts  shall  be  ineffective  and  have  no 
weight  or  influence  in  the  decisions  of  the  court. 

23.  The  head  member  of  the  conference  has  the  same  powers  and 
duties  as  the  regular  members,  with  the  single  exception  of  the  privileges 

Siven  him  by  Article  29  of  the  Regulations  for  Chamber  of  Commerce 
ourts. 


468  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

24.  Members  of  conference  and  the  chairman  of  the  court,  after  they 
have  been  publicly  elected  by  ballot  or  selected  by  the  drawing  of  lots, 
must  not  refuse  to  serve,  unless  they  have  some  very  valid  excuse. 

25.  Investigators  who   are  entrusted  by  the  members  of  conference 
with  the  work  of  investigating  some  case  must  make  a  detailed  investiga- 
tion and  give  a  report  of  same  to  the  members  of  conference.     If  some 
special  information  is  secured  that  does  not  bear  on  the  actual  case  in 
hand,  a  statement  setting  forth  such  information  shall  be  attached  to,  but 
not  included  in  the  report  of  the  investigation,  so  that  the  information 
may  be  available  for  future  reference. 

26.  If,  in  the  investigation  of  a  case,  the  cooperation  of  the  board 
of  directors  of  the  gild  concerned  is  needed,  the  investigators  shall  so 
report  to  the  chairman  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  court,  who  shall  send 
a  notice  to  the  gild  asking  for  their  cooperation. 

27.  In  order  that  they  may  carry  on  their  investigations,  the  chamber 
of   commerce   court   shall    furnish   its   investigators    with   certificates   of 
identification.     These  investigators  meeting  with  objections,  or  if   some 
unforeseen  occurrence  arises,  may  request  the  assistance  of  the  police  in 
charge  of  the  district  where  they  are  working,  providing  the  situation 
demands  it. 

28.  Investigators  must  do   only  the  work  given  them.     They  must 
not  go  beyond  the  limits  of  the  case  given  them  unless  there  is  some  very 
good  reason.    They  must  not  coerce  or  disturb  the  people  when  they  are 
investigating,  even  though  the  circumstances  seem  to  warrant  so  doing. 

This  rule  must  be  observed,  as  invalidation  of  the  investigation  is  the 
penalty  for  its  infraction. 

29.  The  writers  of  the  court  shall  draft  all  outgoing  letters  and  dis- 
patches and  shall  keep  copies  of  same,  and  shall  receive  and  distribute  all 
incoming   communications.      They    shall   keep    shorthand    records    of    all 
proceedings  and  decisions  of  the  court,  and  make  and  keep  copies  of  all 
documents  connected  with  the  court  cases.    They  shall  keep  the  accounts 
of  the  court  and  do  all  other  clerical  work. 

30.  The  chairman  of  the  court,  members  of  conference  and  investi- 
gators all  are  honorary  officials,  but  may  be  paid  for  their  services  within 
the  limits  set  by  Rule  7  of  the  Regulations  for  Chamber  of  Commerce 
Courts.    All  expenses  of  investigators  engaged  on  court  business  shall  be 
paid  by  the  court.     The   salaries   of   the  writers   shall  be  fixed  by  the 
chairman  of  the  court,  according  to  local  conditions  and  the  amount  of 
work  to  be  done. 

31.  When  it  happens  that  any  one  of  the  staff  of  a  chamber  of  com- 
merce court  must  retire  from  office  for  any  reason,  or  shall  be  responsible 
for  the  payment  of  indemnity  for  the  losses  of  interested  parties,  Articles 
35  and  36  of  the-  Regulations  for  Chamber  of  Commerce  Courts  shall 
be  applied. 

V.    Procedure 

32.  Cases  to  be  decided  shall  be  arranged  according  to  the  order  in 
which  they  are  brought  to  the  court,  but  a  change  of   order  may  be 
allowed  under  special  conditions. 

33.  When  a  case  is  brought  in  by  a  merchant,  a  statement  of  the 
matter  in  dispute  must  be  made  out  in  plain  terms  and  presented  to  the 
court.    The  following  are  the  essential  particulars : 

(a)  Names,    ages,    birth-places    and    addresses    of    the   interested 

parties. 

(b)  Occupations  of  these  persons. 

(c)  Number  of  the  license  and  location  of  the  business. 

(d)  List  of  witnesses, 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  469 

(e)    List  of  documents  and  other  evidence  offered  in  connection 
with  the  case. 

34.  For  every  statement  mentioned  in  the  preceding  rule,  the  interested 
party  shall  pay  a  fee  of  ten  cents  for  printing  and  paper  as  ordered  by 
the  Ministry  of  Justice.     The  fee  shall  be  paid  at  the  time  of  filing  the 
statement  of  the  case.    The  stamp  for  the  fee  must  be  pasted  on  the  copy 
of  the  decision  as  rendered  by  the  court,  in  order  that  the  decision  may 
be  legal  and  effective.     If  it  is   determined  later  that  the  court  cannot 
accept  the  case,  the  fees  paid  in  advance  will  be  refunded. 

35.  Small  matters  or  matters  that  require  a  speedy  decision  need  not 
be  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  court  by  a  written  statement,  but  may 
be  brought  in  by  word  of  mouth.     However,  all  the  details  set  forth  in 
Article  33  must  be  reported  in  the  same  way  as  for  a  case  brought  before 
the  court  by  a  written  statement. 

36.  The  chairman  of  the  court  shall  decide  whether  or  not  the  court 
will  accept  the  cases  brought  before  it.    If  the  case  is  brought  before  the 
court  by  a  written  report,  the  chairman  shall  issue  a  written  notification 
of  the  acceptance  of  the  case. 

No  matter  how  the  case  is  brought  before  the  court,  the  fees  stipulated 
in  Article  34  shall  be  paid  after  the  chairman  has  decided  that  the  court 
will  hear  the  case. 

37.  After  a  case  has  been  accepted,  the  chairman  shall  choose  by  lot 
three  or  five  members  of  conference  who  shall  hear  the  case  with  him.    If 
the  interested  parties  do  not  state  the  actual  conditions  of  their  dispute, 
or  if  the  investigation  of  the  case  does  not  produce  reliable  information, 
the  members  of  conference  shall  act  according  to  the  provisions  of  Article 
23  of  the  Regulations  for  Chamber  of  Commerce  Courts. 

38.  If  the  interested  parties  are  unwilling  to  have  their  case  heard  by 
the  members  of  conference  chosen  to  hear  the  case,  they  shall  present  a 
statement  to  the  court,   giving  the   reasons   why  they  object  to  having 
their  case  tried  by  the  men  in  question.    This  statement  may  be  filed  with 
the  court  before  the  time  set  for  the  hearing  of  the  case.    An  unreason- 
able statement,  or  one  filed  just  before  the  hearing  of  the  case,  will  not 
be  accepted  unless  conditions   have  suddenly  changed  or  the  interested 
parties  do  not  know  who  are  chosen  to  hear  the  case  until  the  case  is 
called. 

39.  When  a  member  of  conference  cannot  hear  a  case  for  any  reason 
or  is  objected  to  by  the  interested  parties,  Articles  30-33  of  the  Regula- 
tions for  Chamber  of  Commerce  Courts  shall  apply. 

40.  The  same  rules  shall  apply  in  case  an  investigator  cannot  act  on 
a  case  or  is  objected  to  by  the  interested  parties. 

41.  If  an  investigator  cannot  act  on  a  case  or  is  objected  to  by  the 
interested  parties  the  chairman  or  members  of  conference  shall  appoint 
another  investigator  to  take  his  place. 

42.  When  a  case  is  brought  before  the  court  by  word  of  mouth,  a 
decision  shall  be  given  within  three  days  of  the  time  that  the  case  is 
accepted.    An  extension  of  time  is  allowable  if  something  occurs  during 
the  hearing  of  the  case  that  prevents  a  prompt  decision. 

43.  When  a  case  is  brought  before  the  court  in  writing,  a  written 
notice  shall  be  sent  to  the  interested  parties  and  witnesses,  notifying  them 
of  the  date  set  for  the  hearing  of  the  case.    This  notice  must  be  sent  out 
within  three  days  after  the  date  for  the  hearing  of  the  case  has  been  set. 
This  rule  also  applies  to  all  cases  sent  to  the  chamber  of  commerce  court 
by  a  court  of  justice. 

44.  If,   because  of   legitimate   reasons,   the  interested  parties   cannot 
appear  in  court  on  the  date  fixed  for  the  hearing  of  the  case,  they  may 
file  a  statement  with  the  court,  prior  to  the  date  of  the  hearing,  and  the 


470  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

court  will  be  permitted  to  grant  a  postponement  of  the  hearing.  A  case 
may  not  be  postponed  more  than  three  times  and  each  postponement  must 
not  be  longer  than  two  weeks. 

45.  In  all  cases,  in  addition  to  the  witnesses  brought  by  the  interested 
parties,  men  who  are  qualified  to  act  as  witnesses  may  be  requested  to 
give  testimony  provided  they  are  reported  to  the  chairman  of  the  court 
by  the  members  of  conference.     Persons  able  to  help  in  the  settlement  of 
a  dispute,  may  be  requested  to  testify  in  the  same  way. 

46.  When    putting    questions    to    witnesses,    members    of    conference 
must  not  use  force  or  coercion.    Any  use  of  force  or  coercion  will  make 
the  testimony  given  invalid,  and  the  witnesses  may  also  appeal  for  the 
restraint  of  the  members  of  conference. 

47.  On  the  day  when  a  case  is  to  be  heard,  the  interested  parties 
must  personally  appear  in  court  and  explain  fully  the  origin  of  the  dis- 
putes and  the  reasons  why  they  hold  the  position  they  do.     Only  under 
the  most  exceptional  circumstances  may  the  interested  parties  have  another 
person  represent  them. 

If  the  person  thus  representing  one  of  the  interested  parties  is  unable 
to  hold  a  definite  opinion  concerning  the  case,  or  is  unable  to  express 
the  ideas  of  the  person  he  represents,  the  other  interested  party  may 
object  to  his  acting. 

48.  A  decision  cannot  be  enforced  unless  both   parties  agree  to  it. 
The  party  who  disagrees  with  the  decision  can  appeal  the  case  if  he  so 
desires. 

49.  If  both  parties  agree  to  the  decision,  the  case  is  ended.     When 
both  parties  have  signed  the  statement  of  the  decision,  the  procedure  to 
be  followed  is  that  set  forth  in  Article  34  of  the  Regulations  for  Chamber 
of  Commerce  Courts. 

After  a  case  has  been  decided  and  the  decision  accepted  by  the  in- 
terested parties,  the  decision  stands  unless  it  is  later  discovered  that  the 
decision  is  based  on  erroneous  facts,  or  new  facts  arise  that  make  the 
decision  unjustifiable.  In  this  case,  the  interested  parties  may  ask  for  a 
rehearing  of  the  case. 

50.  After  a  decision  has  been  given,  the  interested  parties  shall  find 
responsible  and  trustworthy  men  who  shall  act  as  their  guarantors  for 
the   payment   of   any  indemnity   required   by   the   decision   and    for   the 
payment  of  the  court  costs.     If  suitable  guarantors  cannot  be  furnished, 
the  court  may  petition  the  court  of  justice  to  enforce  the  decision. 

If  the  case  is  connected  with  property  under  the  control  of  some 
official  or  executive,  a  report  giving  the  particulars  of  the  decision  shall 
be  forwarded  to  said  official  so  that  he  may  examine  and  enforce  the 
decision. 

51.  Except    where    a    case    is    confidential,    all    proceedings    of    the 
charnber  of  commerce  courts  shall  be  open  to  the  public,  but  those  who 
are  not  merchants  or  who  are  not  connected  with  the  trial  must  secure 
permission  of  the  court  before  they  can  hear  the  trial. 

Those  who  are  allowed  to  hear  the  trial  are  by  no  means  allowed  to 
express  their  views  concerning  the  settlement  of  the  case. 

52.  Investigators  who  have  been  entrusted  with  the  investigation  of 
a  case  are  allowed  to  attend  the  conference  concerning  the  case  in  order- 
that  they  may  express  their  opinion  on  the  case,  but,  where  a  decision  is 
to  be  given  by  a  majority  vote  of  those  in  the  conference,  the  investigators 
are  not  allowed  to  vote. 

53.  Interested   parties  and  witnesses,  when  being  questioned  by  the 
members  of  conference,  must  speak  one  after  the  other  and  they  must 
not  talk  at  the  same  time. 

The  interested  parties  must  argue  in  a  peaceful  manner.    They  must 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  471 

not  scold  each  other  with  hateful  tongues  and  one  must  not  speak  until 
the  other  has  finished.  If  any  one  breaks  this  rule  the  members  of  con- 
ference may  force  him  to  obey  it. 

54.  All  records  in  connection  with  the  trial  and  decision  of  a  case, 
must  be  signed  by  the  members  of  conference  who  are  thus  responsible 
for  the  same. 

55.  Interested  parties  must  not  leave  a  conference  that  is  uncompleted. 

56.  If  several  conferences  need  to  be  held  before  a  decision  can  be 
arrived  at,  the  members  of  conference  shall,  before  adjourning,  fix  and 
announce  to  all  present  the  date  of  the  next  conference. 

57.  At  the  end  of  every  quarter,  the  chairman  of  the  court  shall  pre- 
pare a  report  of  all  cases  accepted  by  the  court,  making  separate  reports 
for  decided  cases  and  those  that  are  still  pending. 

These   reports   shall   be  sent  to   the   High   Court   of   Justice  of  the 
Province  and  by  it  transmitted  to  the  Ministry  of  Justice. 
The  reports  shall  give  the  following  particulars: 

(a)  The  information  required  in  A-C  of  Rule  33. 

(b)  State  whether  the  case  was  brought  before  the  court  by  the 

interested  parties  or  referred  to  it  by  a  court  of  justice. 
In  the  first  case  state  whether  the  case  was  brought 
before  the  court  by  word  of  mouth  or  by  a  written 
statement,  and  in  the  second  case,  giving  the  name  of 
the  court  of  justice  that  referred  the  case  to  the  chamber 
of  commerce  court. 

(c)  The  result  of  the  trial  and  the  decision. 

(d)  Causes  of  the  dispute — remote  and  recent. 

(e)  The  basis  and  chief  points  of  the  decision. 

(f)  Effect  of  the  decision. 

(g)  Whether  or  not  the  decision  has  had  to  be  carried  out  by 

force. 

(h)     Date  of  the  end  of  the  trial  and  the  names  of  the  members 
of  conference  deciding  the  case. 

VI.    Appendix 

58.  All  chamber  of  commerce  courts  shall  follow  these  rules  and  need 
not  attempt  to  draft  detailed  rules  for  the  enforcement  of  the  Regula- 
tions for  Chamber  of  Commerce  Courts  if  they  have  not  yet  sent  them 
to  the  Ministry  of  Justice  for  its  ratification. 

59.  All  detailed  rules  previously  drawn  up  by  any  chamber  of  com- 
merce court  and  approved  by  the  Ministry  of  Justice  will  be  invalid  as 
soon  as  these  rules  are  in  force. 

60.  These  rules  shall  be  altered  and  amended  by  conference  of  the 
Ministry  of  Justice  and  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce. 

61.  These    rules    are    to    be    effective    from   date    of    their     public 
promulgation. 

REGULATIONS  FOR  THE  OPENING  OF  NEW  STORES 
ISSUED  BY  THE  PEKING  POLICE 

1.  If  any  one  wants  to  start  a  new  business,  he  must  report  to  the 
Police  Board  according  to  the  regulations. 

2.  The  following  information  must  be  given  to  the  police  before  the 
store  is  opened : 

(a)     Names  and  addresses  of  the  shop  owner  and  all  employees. 
(t>)     The  kind  of  business  to  be  carried  on.     If  one  store  is  to 


472  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

engage  in  more  than  one  kind  of  business,  it  must  be 
clearly  so  stated  in  the  report. 

(c)  The  location  of  the  store. 

(d)  The  capital  of  the  store.     If  it  is  a  partnership,  the  amount 

subscribed  by  each  partner  must  be  stated. 

(e)  The  date  of  opening. 

3.  The  report  must  include  all  the  above  information,  and  a  shop  of 
about  the  same  size  and  capital  as  the  new  store  must  act  as  guarantor 
for  the  new  store. 

4.  As   soon  as  a  report  is  received  by  the  police  board,   they  will 
appoint  an  officer  to  investigate  the  store.     The  police  certificate  will  be 
given  to  the  store  owner  one  week  from  the  date  of  the  filing  of  his 
report. 

5.  The  fee  for  the  issuing  of  the  police  certificate  is  based  upon  the 
capital  of  the  store.    The  rate  is  30  cents  per  $100  of  capital. 

6.  Even  if  the  capital  is  over  $100,000,  the  certificate  fee  shall  not  be 
more  than  $300. 

7.  When  a  store  changes  its  location,  notice  must  be  given  to  the 
police.    If  there  is  no  change  of  owner  and  no  change  of  capital,  the  fee 
for  the  new  certificate  shall  be  one-third  of  that  charged  for  a  new  store, 
viz.,  10  cents  per  $100  of  capital.    The  fee  must  not  exceed  $100. 

8.  When  a  store  is  transferred  or  sold,  both  the  old  and  new  owners 
must  report  to  the  police.     The  new  owner  shall  make  out  a  report  for 
the  police  board  according  to  these  regulations. 

9.  After  filing  his  report  with  the  police,  the  owner  of  a  new  store 
must  immediately  go  to  the  tax  bureau  and  pay  his  store  tax.    The  store 
owner  must  show  his  tax  receipt  before  he  can  get  his  certificate  from 
the  police. 

10.  When  any  store  owner  wants  to  stop  business,  he  must  return 
his  certificate  to  the  police.    If  any  one  wants  to  open  a  new  store  at  the 
same  location,  the  old  owner  must  notify  the  police  so  that  they  may 
cancel  the  name  of  his  shop.     After  the  old  owner  has   reported,  the 
owner  of  the  new  shop  must  make  out  a  new  report  as  prescribed  by 
the  regulations. 

11.  If  any  one  opens  a  store  without  reporting  to  the  police  board, 
or,   having   reported,    has   received   no   certificate,   or   if   the   amount   of 
capital  or  some  other  item  does  not  agree  with  the  report,  he  will  be 
fined  according  to  Rule  No.  23  of  the  Police  Penalty  Regulations. 


TAX  REGULATIONS  FOR  STORES 
ISSUED  BY  PEKING  MUNICIPAL  COUNCIL 

Art.  i.    Missing. 

Art.  2.  All  shops  are  not  the  same.  Some  are  big  and  some  are 
small.  They  must  be  divided  into  classes  and  pay  taxes  accordingly.  The 
stores  are  divided  according  to  the  amount  of  their  monthly  income  as 
follows : 

CLASS.  INCOME  PER  MONTH. 

Special    $3,000.00  and  over 

ist   2100-3000 

2nd    1500-2100 

3rd 900-1500 

4th  750-  900 

5th 600-  750 

6th 450-  600 


COMMERCIAL  LIFE  473 

CLASS.  INCOME  PER  MONTH. 

7th  $300-  450 

8th 150-  300 

9th 75-  ISO 

Yun    50-    75 

Heng    40-    50 

Li    30-    40 

Ching Less  than  30 

The  Taxes  for  these  various  classes  are  as  follows: 

CLASS.  MONTHLY  TAX. 

Special    $20.00  and  over 

1    14  oo 

2     IO.OO 

3  6.00 

4  5-00 

5  4-00 

6  3.00 

7  2.00 

8  i.oo 

9  0.50 

Yun    i.oo  a  quarter. 

Heng    0.80" 

Li    0.60" 

Ching 0.40  " 

Article  3.  If  any  shop,  on  investigation,  proves  that  it  is  not  making 
money,  it  will  be  declared  tax  exempt  and  given  a  certificate  ^entitling  it 
to  such  exemption.  A  fee  of  $1.00  shall  be  charged  for  issuing  the 
certificate. 

Article  4.    All  taxes  shall  be  paid  in  silver  dollars. 

Article  5.  All  tax  certificates  issued  by  the  chief  of  the  tax  bureau 
shall  be  placed  on  the  door  of  the  shop  where  it  may  be  easily  seen. 

Article  6.  All  stores  that  have  a  certificate  showing  the  amount  of 
tax  they  pay  must  bring  such  certificate  to  the  tax  bureau  when  they  pay 
their  monthly  tax.  The  tax  bureau  will  issue  a  receipt  for  the  taxes  paid. 
This  receipt  must  be  posted  on  the  door  of  the  shop. 

Article  7.  All  taxes  must  be  paid  before  the  twentieth  of  the  month. 
A  penalty  equal  to  the  amount  of  the  tax  due  will  be  assessed  for 
payment  after  the  twentieth. 

Article  8.  Shops  that  have  received  tax  receipts  or  certificates  of  tax 
exemption  must  not  exchange  same  with  other  shops  or  lend  them  to 
other  stores. 

Article  9.  All  new  stores,  or  shops  that  are  changing  their  line  of 
business,  must  give  notice  to  the  tax  bureau  and  secure  the  proper  permit 
before  opening.  Any  shop  that  fails  to  give  such  notice  before  opening 
or  changing  its  business  will  be  required  to  pay  three  times  the  amount 
of  tax  which  would  ordinarily  be  due. 

Article  10.  If  any  shop  wants  to  close  its  business  and  requests  the 
tax  bureau  to  cancel  its  certificate  before  the  15th  of  the  month,  no  tax 
shall  be  due  for  that  month.  All  shops  requesting  the  cancellation  of 
their  certificates  after  the  15th  are  required  to  pay  the  tax  for  that  month. 

Article  n.  Any  shop  found  still  doing  business  one  month  after  the 
cancellation  of  its  certificate,  will  be  required  to  pay  twice  the  amount  of 
taxes  that  would  regularly  be  due. 

Article  12.    All  tax  exempt  shops  must  bring  their  certificates  to  the 


474  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

tax  bureau  during  the  fourth  month  of  each  year,  get  a  new  certificate 
and  pay  the  fee,  $1.00.  Shops  failing  to  bring  in  their  certificates  during 
the  fourth  month  will  be  required  to  pay  $2.00  instead  of  the  usual  $i.op. 

Article  13.  All  tax  exempt  shops  desiring  to  close  or  change  their 
business,  must  notify  the  tax  bureau  so  that  it  may  investigate  the 
proposed  change. 

Article  14.  If  the  certificate  of  any  store  is  lost  or  destroyed,  it  must 
be  immediately  reported  to  the  tax  bureau.  A  new  certificate  will  be 
issued  upon  the  furnishing  of  a  proper  guarantee  by  the  shop. 

POLICE  REGULATIONS  FOR  STOREKEEPERS 

1.  All  stores  shall  be  inspected  once  every  ten  days,  but  no  store- 
keeper may  refuse  the  police  permission  to  inspect  his  store  at  any  time. 

2.  All    store-keepers    must   state   the    true   facts   in   answer   to   any 
questions  asked  them  by  the  police. 

3.  All  store-keepers  must  keep  a  record  of  the  names,  ages,  native 
districts  and  addresses  of  all  managers,  workers  and  employees.     Such 
record  shall  be  open  to  the  inspection  of  the  police  at  any  time. 

4.  A  store-keeper  must  give  notice  to  the  police  if  he  has  any  friend 
or  relative  spend  the  night  or  lodge  temporarily  in  his  store.    If  the  store- 
keeper has  any  doubt  about  the  character  of  the  person,  he  must  not 
allow  him  to  stay  in  the  store. 

5.  If  it  is  discovered  by  the  police  that  a  store-keeper  has  had  a 
friend  or  relative  staying  in  his  store  a  short  or  long  time,  and  that  the 
required  notice  has  not  been  given  to  the  police,  the  store-keeper  will 
be  fined. 

6.  Whenever  an  employee  is  added  or  one  leaves  the  store  because  he 
has  moved  away,  been  dismissed,  or  died  suddenly,  the  store-keeper  must 
report  it  to  the  police,  giving  the  man's  name,  age,  native  district  and 
present  address. 

7.  All  reports  must  be  made  on  the  blanks  prepared  by  the  police  and 
must  be  signed  with  the  seal  of  the  store. 

8.  All  those  who  refuse  the  police  the  right  to  investigate  their  stores, 
or  who  violate  the  above  regulations,  will  be  fined. 


APPENDIX  VII:   RECREATION 


BOOKS  FROM  WHICH  STORY  TELLERS  TAKE  THEIR  STORIES 


East  Chou  (or  Lieh  Ko) 

West  Han 

East  Ha# 

Three  Nations 

Sui 

Tsang 

Ching  Chung 

Shui  Ho 

Ming  Ying  Lieh 

Biography  of  Shih  Kang 

Biography  of  Peng  Kung 

Biography  of  Yu  Kung 


An  Liang  Chuan 

Ta  Sung  Pa  I 

San  Hsia  Hu  I 

Hsiao  Wu  I 

Biography  of  Chi  Kung 

Yung  Ching  Sheng  Ping 

Feng  Shen  Pang 

Hsi  Yu  Chi 

Liao  Chai  Chih  I 

Lu  Mu  Tan  Children's  Heroes 

Shan  I  Tu 


TEMPLE  MARKETS 


DATE  OF 
CHINESE 

MONTH     TEMPLE 
i.    Nan  Yu  Wang 


2. 

3- 
4- 

1: 
i: 

9- 

10. 

ii. 

12. 

13. 
14. 

T'u  Ti  Miao 
Hua  Shih 
Pai  Ta  Ssu 
Pai  Ta  Ssu 
Hu  Kuo  Ssu 
Hu  Kuo  Ssu 
Lung  Fo  Ssu 
Lung  Fo  Ssu 
T'ien  Ch'iao 

T'u  Ti  Miao 
Hua  Shih 

15. 

Nan  Yu  Wang,  Pai  Ta  Ssu 

16. 

Pai  Ta  Ssu 

17. 

Hu  Kuo  Ssu 

18. 

Hu  Kuo  Ssu 

19. 

Lung  Fo  Ssu 

20. 

Lung  Fo  Ssu 

21. 

T'ien   Ch'iao 

22. 

— 

23- 

T'u  Ti  Miao 

24. 

Hua  Shih 

25- 

Pai  Ta  Ssu 

26. 

Pai   Ta   Ssu 

27. 

Hu  Kuo  Ssu 

28. 

Hu  Kuo  Ssu 

2Q. 

Lung  Fo  Ssu 

30. 

Lung  Fo  Ssu 

PEKING  BILLIARD  ROOMS 


No. 

Name 

Billiard 
Tables 

Bowling 
Alleys 

Location 

NORTH 

CITY 

i 

Hui  Hsien 

2 

i 

Tung  An  Market 

2 

Ching  I 

3 

« 

3 
4 

Tsui  Ying 
Chung  Hua 

5 
5 

Ch'ang  Kuan  Lou 
Ching  Lien  Ke 

5 

Tsui  Ying 

i 

Hu  Ko  Ssu, 
North    of    Hsi     Ssu 

P'ailou 

6 

Ti  K'ang 

4 

Jung  Hsien  Lane  south 

of  Hsi  Tan  P'ailou 

475 


476 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

PEKING  BILLIARD  ROOMS  (Continued) 


No. 

Name 

Billiard    Bowling 
Tables        Alleys 

Location 

SOUTH  CITY 

7 

Yu  I 

4 

North    Hsin    Hua    St. 

south  of  West  Ch'ang 

An   Street 

8 

Chang  Huai  Chun 

3 

Lang  Fang  T'ou 

T'iao  Lan 

9 

Hua  Sheng 

3               I 

Chi  Yun  Lou, 

Mei  Shih  Street 

10 

Chung  Yuan 

4 

Pin  Yen  Lou, 

Kuan  Yin  Ssu  St. 

ii 

Chen  Ying 

6 

Ching  Yun  Ke, 

Kuan  Yin  Ssu  St. 

12 

Chung  Hsing 

9 

Kuan  Yin  Ssu 

13 

Ti  Yu 

9               2 

Han  Chia  T'an  St. 

14 

Wei  Chu 

6 

Pai  Hsun  Lane 

IS 

Yu  K'ang 

4 

Wang  Kuang  Fu 

Hsieh  Street 

16 

Chung  Yuan 

7 

The  New  World  Bldg. 

17 

Huan  Chien 

a 

Ch'eng   Nan  Yu   Yuan 

APPENDIX  VIII:   THE  SOCIAL  EVIL 

POLICE  REGULATIONS  FOR  PROSTITUTES  AND  BROTHELS 

1.  The  houses  of  prostitution  are  divided  into  four  classes  as  follows: 

a.  First  class,  the  number  of  which  is  limited  to  78. 

b.  Second  class,  the  number  of  which  is  limited  to  100. 

c.  Third  class,  the  number  of  which  is  limited  to  172. 

d.  Fourth  class,  the  number  of  which  is  limited  to  23. 

2.  The   districts   where   houses   of   prostitution   may  be   located  arc 
designated  by  the  police,  and  houses  that  are  located  in  special  places 
must  secure  a  special  permit  from  the  police.     Houses  of  prostitution  in 
excess  of  the  number  decided  upon  by  the  police  may  not  be  opened. 

3.  When  the  manager  of  any  house  of  prostitution  wants  to  move 
the  house  to  a  new  location  or  to  change  the  name  of  the  house,  he  must 
first  make  application  to  the  police.     Such  application  must  be  signed  by 
the  managers  of  three  other  houses,  who  act  as  guarantors  of  the  man 
making  the  application.     The  house  manager  must  deliver  his  original 
police  license  certificate  to  the  police  at  the  time  of  making  the  new  appli- 
cation.    The  Board  of  Police  will  issue  a  new  certificate  to  the  house 
manager  when  his  application  has  been  approved. 

4.  If  the  manager  of  a  house  of  prostitution  wants  to  build  or  repair 
a  house,  he  must  file  with  the  police  a  plan  of  the  proposed  building  or 
alteration.     The  plan  must  conform  to  the  following  rules : 

a.  No  glass  windows  are  allowed  to  face  the  street. 

b.  No  porches  may  be  built  facing  the  street. 

c.  The  house  cannot  be  decorated  too  highly. 

Upon  receipt  of  the  application,  the  police  will  appoint  a  man  to  investi- 
gate the  matter  and  upon  approval  will  issue  the  necessary  permit. 

5.  The  house  manager  must  make  and  give  to  the  head  of  the  police 
district  a  complete  list  of  the  names  and  native  places  of  all  the  prosti- 
tutes and  maid  servants  in  the  house  of  prostitution.     If  there  is  any 
increase  or  decrease  in  the  number  of  prostitutes  or  maid  servants,  the 
manager  must  report  it  to  the  police  district  immediately. 

6.  When  a  house  manager  files  an  application  for  permission  to  open 
a  house  of  prostitution,  the  police  will  investigate  as  to  whether  or  not  he 
has  been  in  jail.    If  he  has  a  record  of  having  been  in  jail,  his  applica- 
tion will  be  denied. 

7.  If  the  house  manager  keeps  bad  characters  in  the  house  or  violates 
the  police  rules,  the  police  will  cancel  his  certificate  and  stop  his  business. 

8.  When  any  house  of  prostitution  increases  its  number  of  prostitutes, 
the  police  must  examine  the  matter  thoroughly.     If  there  is  no  irregu- 
larity or  question,  the  proper  certificate  will  be  issued. 

9.  If  the  police  discover  that  the  manager  of  any  house  of  prostitution 
has  bought  any  good  women  or  girls  and  has,  against  their  will,  induced 
or  forced  them  to  become  prostitutes,  the  police  will  immediately  close  the 
house.    The  violation  of  this  rule  by  other  persons  who  make  use  of  the 
house  of  prostitution  will  not  cause  the  penalty  to  be  enforced  against  the 
manager. 

477 


478  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

10.  All  houses  of  prostitution  must  conform  to  the  following  rules: 

a.  The  house  manager  must  not  treat  the  prostitutes  cruelly. 

b.  The  house  manager  must  not  force  the  prostitutes  to  receive 

customers. 

C.  If  any  prostitute  wants  to  leave  the  business  or  wants  to  go  to 
another  house,  the  house  manager  must  let  her  go,  and  he 
cannot  interfere  with  her  movements. 

d.  The   house   manager   cannot   borrow    from   the   prostitute   her 

clothes  or  other  belongings  nor  take  from  her  the  money 
given  her  by  her  customers. 

e.  When  any  prostitute  wants  to  leave  the  business  or  enter  the 

Door  of  Hope,  the  house  manager  and  her  relatives  must 
not  prevent  her  from  so  doing. 

f.  When  any  of  the  prostitutes   show  any  evidence   of  venereal 

disease,  the  house  manager  must  send  her  to  the  hospital 
immediately  and  must  also,  at  the  same  time,  report  the 
matter  to  the  head  of  the  police  district. 

g.  All  houses  of  prostitution  must  close  their  doors  at  12  o'clock 

midnight. 

h.  If  any  person  wants  to  see  any  customer  after  the  house  door 
is  opened  in  the  morning,  the  house  manager  cannot  prevent 
him  from  so  doing. 

i.  All  those  living  in  the  houses  of  prostitution  must  have  a 
guarantor. 

j.  Over  the  door  of  the  house  of  prostitution  must  hang  a  sign- 
board by  day  and  a  glass  lamp  at  night,  giving  the  name  of 
the  house  and  the  kind  of  prostitutes  living  there. 

k.  Toilets  for  men  and  women  must  be  separated  and  all  toilets 
must  be  cleaned  daily. 

11.  When  any  one  of  the  following  things  occur  in  a  house  of  prosti- 
tution the  manager  must  report  it  to  the  police  district  immediately : 

a.  Any  accident  to  a  customer  or  the  death  of  any  customer. 

b.  The  death  of  any  men  and  women  connected  with  the  house  of 

prostitution. 

c.  When  any  of  the  prostitutes  disobey  rule  5  of  the  prostitute 

regulations. 

d.  Whenever  the  house  manager  has  any  doubt  about  the  conduct 

of  customers. 

e.  When  the  house  manager  knows  that  a  customer  is  a  fugitive 

from  justice. 

f.  When  a  customer  is  drunk. 

g.  When  a  customer   owes  money  to  the  house  and  the  house 

manager  receives  or  wishes  to  get  personal  property  in 
payment  of  the  charges. 

h.    When  troublesome  characters  disturb  the  house. 
i.    When  a  prostitute  goes  to  another  house  or  place. 
j.    When  any  customer  has  on  his  person  guns  or  other  firearms, 
k.    When  one  customer  fights  with  another  customer. 

12.  The  house  manager  must  hang  the  regulations  for  prostitutes  and 
the  regulations  for  the  houses  of  prostitution  in  each  room,  and  they 
must  be  carefully  observed  during  business  hours. 

13.  The  house  manager  must  not  charge  the  customer  exorbitant  or 
unlawful  charges. 

14.  Men  and  women  who  do  not  belong  to  the  houses  of  prostitution 
are  not  allowed  to  live  there  temporarily  nor  are  traveling  prostitutes 
allowed  to  live  there. 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL  479 

15.  After  the  door  has  been  closed  at  midnight,  the  house  manager 
must  make  his  daily  report  to  the  police. 

16.  Penalties. 

a.  Any  one  violating  section  2  will  be  fined  according  to  the  police 

rules  and  will  be  prevented  from  continuing  his  business. 

b.  Any  one  violating  section  9  will  be  sent  to  court  by  the  police. 

c.  Any  one  violating  article  a  of  section  10  will  be  punished  accord- 

ing to  the  circumstances.    He  will  be  fined  according  to  the 
law,  or  he  will  be  sent  to  the  court. 

d.  Any  one  violating  article  e  of  section   10  will  be  sent  to  the 

court 

e.  Any  one  violating  article  g  of  section  10  will  be  fined  according 

to  the  general  penalty  rules  of  the  police. 

f.  Any  one  violating  articles  b,  c,  d,  of  section  10,  and  section  14 

will  be  sent  to  jail  for  ten  days  or  will  be  fined  $10. 

g.  Any  one  violating  sections  3  and  5  and  articles  i  and  j,  of  section 

10,  or  sections  n,  13  or  14  will  be  sent  to  jail  for  five  days  or 
will  be  fined  $5. 

TAX  REGULATIONS  FOR  HOUSES  OF  PROSTITUTION 

1.  First-class  houses  of  prostitution  pay  $24  a  month.     Every  first- 
class  prostitute  must  pay  $4  a  month.    Young  girls  living  in  a  first-class 
house  of  prostitution  pay  $2  a  month. 

2.  Second-class  houses  of  prostitution  pay  $14  a  month.    Second-class 
prostitutes  pay  $3  a  month.    Young  girls  pay  $1.50  a  month. 

3.  Third-class  houses  of  prostitution  pay  $6  a  month.     Third-class 
prostitutes  pay  $i  a  month,  and  young  girls  pay  $0.50. 

4.  Fourth-class  houses  of  prostitution  pay  $3  a  month.    Fourth-class 
prostitutes  are  taxed  $0.50  a  month. 

5.  When  the  manager  of  a  house  of  prostitution  pays  the  house  tax, 
he  must  carefully  give  the  following  information: 

a.  Name  of  the  house  manager. 

b.  Native  place  of  the  house  manager. 

c.  Age  of  the  house  manager. 

d.  Address  of  the  house  manager. 

e.  Location  of  the  house  of  prostitution. 

f.  Number  of  prostitutes. 

g.  Names  of  the  prostitutes. 
h.  Ages  of  the  prostitutes. 

i.    Native  places  of  the  prostitutes. 

j.    What  class  prostitutes  they  are. 

k.    Total  number  of  rooms  in  house. 

1.    Rent  per  month. 
m.    Name  of  the  house  owner. 

The  manager  of  the  house  of  prostitution  must  answer  the  above 
questions  for  the  Board  of  Police  very  carefully  before  they  will  issue 
him  the  certificate  necessary  for  carrying  on  his  business.  If  any  ques- 
tions are  falsely  answered,  the  house  manager  will  be  fined  by  the  police 
when  the  deception  is  discovered. 

6.  After  the  manager  has- paid  the  house  tax  according  to  the  rules 
the  Board  of  Police  will  give  him  a  certificate. 

7.  When  prostitutes  pay  their  taxes  according  to  law,  the  Board  of 
Police  will  give  them  certificates. 

8.  If  any  prostitutes  of  any  class  move  from  one  house  of  prostitution 
to  another,  she  must  pay  a  new  tax,  the  amount  depending  upon  the  class 


480  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

of  the  house  to  which  she  moves.    The  unexpired  portion  of  the  paid  tax 
cannot  be  substituted  for  the  new  tax. 

9.  New  prostitutes  of  any  classes  must  give  the  police  their  photo- 
graphs after  they  have  been  registered  by  the  Board  of  Police.     They 
must  write  their  name,  age  and  native  place  on  the  photograph.     The 
photograph  of  the  first  and  second-class  prostitutes  should  be  6  inches 
long,  and  those  of  the  third  and  fourth-class  prostitutes  must  be  4  inches 
long. 

10.  All  prostitutes  must  report  to  the  police  if  they  marry  or  move  to 
a  new  place.    If  one  moves  to  a  new  house,  she  must  be  registered.    If 
one  marries,  the  police  will  return  her  picture  to  her. 

11.  The  taxes  levied  on  prostitutes  and  houses  of  prostitution  must 
be  paid  between  the  sixth  and  tenth  of  every  month.    Prostitutes  or  house 
managers  failing  to  pay  their  taxes  during  this  time  will  be  fined. 

The  regular  brothel  tax  is  for  those  with  not  more  than  12  prostitutes. 
If  any  have  13  they  have  to  pay  an  additional  20  percent  while  if  they 
have  25  they  have  to  pay  the  regular  tax  plus  30  percent. 

INCOME  FROM   PROSTITUTES  AND  BROTHELS   IN  PEKING,    IQI2-I9I7 

Income  from  Income  from 

Year  prostitutes  brothels  Total 

1912  $64,190  $41,642  $105,832 

1913  82,739  5i,7i5  133454 

1914  84,832  51,060  135,892 

1915  89,212  54,250  143,462 

1916  87,938  54,465  142,403 

1917  (9  months)   45,75O  42,084*  87,834 

1  No  taxes  were  collected  during  three  months,  the  time  of  the  restoration 
movement  in  1917. 

REGULATIONS  OF  THE  PEKING  DOOR  OF  HOPE 

SECTION   I.     ORGANIZATION 

1.  The  Peking  Door  of  Hope  was  established  and  is  run  by  the  Board 
of  Police,  with  the  sanction  of  the  Board  of  the  Interior. 

2.  The  income  of  the  Door  of  Hope : 

a.  Subscriptions  from  the  Tax  Bureau,  amounting  at  the  present 

time  to  $100  a  month. 

b.  Marriage   subscriptions   paid   by   the   men   who   marry   women 

cared  for  by  the  Door  of  Hope. 

c.  Special  subscriptions. 

d.  Rent. 

e.  A  subscription  of  20  tan  or  shih  of  rice  a  month.     (One  tan 

or   shih   contains   from   100  to  80  catties  of  rice.) 

f.  Payments  from  the  Board  of  Police.     When  the  above  income 

is  not  sufficient  to  meet  the  expenses,  the  deficit  will  be  made 
up  from  the  funds  of  the  Board  of  Police. 

3.  Women  or  girls  can  be  sent  to  the  Door  of  Hope  by  the  police  after 
their  case  has  been  judicially  examined  by  either  the  courts  or  the  Board 
of  Police  under  the  following  conditions : 

a.  When  a  woman  is  forced  into  prostitution  by  her  seducer. 

b.  When  a  woman  is  badly  treated  by  the  manager  of  the  house  of 

prostitution  and  is  not  given  her  freedom. 

c.  When  a  woman  or  girl  desires  to  give  up  the  practice  of  pros- 

titution. 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL  481 

d.  When  women  or  girls  have  no  place  to  go  and  no  relatives  on 
whom  they  may  depend. 

4.  The  staff  of  the  Door  of  Hope: 

a.  One  manager. 

b.  One  woman  director. 

c.  One  woman  inspector. 

d.  Teachers  (no  fixed  number). 

e.  One  secretary. 

5.  The  Board  of  Police  appoints  as  manager  of  the  Door  of  Hope  a 
man  who  is  the  head  or  subhead  of  one  of  the  police  districts.     This 
manager  is  responsible  for  the  selection  of  the  rest  of  the  staff,  but  the 
Board  of  Police  must  approve  of  the  choice  before  the  person  is  finally 
employed. 

SECTION  II.     THE  POWERS  OF  THE  OFFICERS 

6.  The  duties  of  the  officers  of  the  Door  of  Hope  are  as  follows: 

a.  The  manager  takes  charge  of  all  affairs  of  the  Door  of  Hope. 

b.  The  woman  director  is   responsible  for  everything  inside  the 

second  gate. 

c.  The  woman  inspector  takes  charge  of  the  eating,  sleeping,  work- 

ing and  conduct  of  the  women  and  girls  in  the  Door  of  Hope. 

d.  The   women  teachers   are   in   charge   of   the   school   industrial 

work. 

c.  The  secretary  is  in  charge  of  the  general  affairs  outside  the 
second  gate  and  receives  and  sends  all  communications  dealing 
with  the  Door  of  Hope. 

7.  The  manager  is  responsible  for  all  the  financial  transactions   of 
the  institution.     He  renders  a  monthly  report  to  the   Board   of   Police. 
A  copy  of  this  report  is  sent  to  the  Board  of  the  Interior,  where  it  is 
filed  for  reference. 

8.  The  purchasing  of  new  furnishings  and  of  materials  for  the  work 
of  the  inmates  is  done  by  the  manager,  while  the  purchasing  of  the  sup- 
plies for  the  women  and  girls  is  done  by  the  woman  director. 

9.  Things  made  by  the  women  and  girls  in  the  workroom  are  given 
to  the   woman   director,  who  then  gives  them  to  the   manager  to   sell. 
When  the  article  is  sold,  the  cost  of  the  material  is  deducted,  and  any 
surplus  is  given  to  the  woman  who  made  the  article. 

10.  All  communications  between  the  Door  of  Hope  and  any  govern- 
ment board  must  be  made  through  the  Board  of  Police.    All  such  letters 
must  be  sent  to  the  Board  of  Police,  with  the  request  that  they  forward 
it  to  the  proper  board. 

11.  All  documents  sent  to  the  Board  of  Police  must  have  the  signa- 
ture of  the  manager  of  the  Door  of  Hope. 

12.  When  any  prostitute  makes  a  personal  application  for  permission 
to  enter  the  Door  of  Hope,  she  must  be  sent  immediately  to  the  Board 
of  Police,  so  that  they  can  investigate  her  case. 

13.  When  the  inmates  of  the  Door  of  Hope  do  not  obey  the  directions 
or  instructions  of  the  manager,  the  woman  inspector,  or  the  teachers, 
they  are  to  be  punished  according  to  the  following  regulations : 

(1)  In  case  of  serious  infraction  of  the  rules,  the  offender  must  be 
sent  to  the  Board  of  Police. 

(2)  The  punishments  for  minor  offenses  are: 

a.  The  learning  of  moral  maxims  or  old  and  wise  savings. 

b.  Small    demerits. 

c.  Large  demerits. 

d.  Sitting  with  the  face  to  the  wall  for  from  one  to  three  hours. 

e.  Being  deprived  of  vegetables  for  one  meal. 


482  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

14.  The  Board  of  Police  has  the  power  to  examine  the  letters,  files 
and  accounts  of  the  Door  of  Hope  at  any  time. 

SECTION  III.      VISITING 

15.  When  any  group  of  officers  or  people  want  to  visit  the  Door  of 
Hope,  they  must  first  secure  visiting  permits  from  the  Board  of  Police. 
The  Board  of  Police  will  make  an  appointment  for  them  with  the  man- 
ager of  the  Door  of  Hope. 

16.  All  visitors  must  obey  the  rules  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Police, 
and  the  manager  must  inform  them  of  the  rules. 

17.  When  any  woman  or  girl  desires  to  visit  the  Door  of  Hope,  the 
woman  inspector  must  first  send  word  to  the  manager.     If  the  manager 
gives  his  permission,  the  woman  inspector  may  conduct  the  visitor  around 
the  institution,  and  no  ticket  of  admission  is  needed. 

18.  According  to  rule  31,  when  any  single  person  wants  to  visit  the 
Door  of  Hope,  he  must  first  get  an  admission  ticket  from  the  manager. 
These  tickets  are  signed  by  the  manager. 

19.  When  the  visitor  does  not  obey  the  rules,  the  woman  inspector 
will  notify  the  manager,  and  he  will  request  the  visitor  to  leave  the  prem- 
ises immediately. 

20.  The  visiting  tickets  are  made,  numbered  and  signed  by  the  Board 
of  Police  and  can  be  secured  from  them.    The  admission  tickets  are  made, 
numbered  and  signed  by  the  manager  of  the  Door  of  Hope  and  are  given 
out  by  him. 

SECTION   IV.      ENTRANCE  REGULATIONS  FOR  THE  PROSTITUTES 

21.  When  any  prostitute  wants  to  enter  the  Door  of  Hope,  she  must 
bring  her  case  to  the  notice  of  the  authorities  in  one  of  the  following 
ways: 

a.  Hand  a  petition  herself  to  the  head  of  the  police  district. 

b.  Send  a  petition  by  mail  to  the  head  of  the  police  district. 

c.  Implore  help  and  redress  from  a  police  officer  on  duty. 

d.  Go  herself  to  the  Door  of  Hope. 

22.  If  any  prostitute  entering  the  Door  of  Hope  has  any  money  or 
clothes  that  are  in  the  possession  of  the  manager  of  the  house  of  prosti- 
tution and  so  notifies  the  police,  the  police  will  secure  such  money  and 
clothes  for  her. 

23.  When  any  prostitute  enters   the.  Door   of   Hope,   the  Board   of 
Police  must  make  a  clear  record  of  her  case,  including  her  name,  native 
place,  age,  relatives  and  the  reasons  why  she  is  allowed  to  enter  the  Door 
of  Hope.    A  copy  of  this  record  must  be  sent  to  the  manager  of  the  Door 
of  Hope. 

SECTION  V.      SUBJECTS  TAUGHT  IN,  AND  BUILDINGS  OF,  THE  DOOR  OF  HOPE 

24.  The  subjects  taught  in  the  Door  of  Hope  are: 

a.  Chinese. 

b.  Moral  teachings. 

c.  Arithmetic. 

d.  Art. 

c.    Cooking. 

f.  Drawing. 

g.  Calisthenics. 
h.    Music. 

25.  Buildings.     (List  omitted.) 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL  483 

26.  Six  hours  each  day  are  spent  in  studying  lessons.    The  schedule 
is  arranged  by  the  teachers. 

27.  The  times  for -eating  and  sleeping: 

a.  Getting  up,  6  a.m.  in  summer  and  7  a.m.  in  winter. 

b.  Retiring,  9  p.m.  in  summer  and  10  p.m.  in  winter. 

c.  Breakfast,  7  a.m.  in  summer  and  8  a.m.  in  winter. 

d.  Dinner,   12  noon. 

e.  Supper,  7  p.m. 

28.  The  time  of  the  vacation.    The  school  of  the  Door  of  Hope  has 
vacation  at  the  same  time  as  the  other  girls'  schools  of  the  city. 

29.  When  any  inmate  of  the  Door  of  Hope  is  taken  sick,  she  must 
be  taken  to  the  sick  room,  and  a  doctor  shall  be  called  to  attend  her. 
The  doctor's  fees  are  to  be  paid  by  the  Door  of  Hope.     If  the  disease 
is  infectious,  the  patient  must  be  removed  to  the  Government  Hospital. 
She  can  return  to  her  own  room  after  she  has  been  cured.    In  case  any 
inmate  has  a  dangerous  disease,  she  must  be  placed  in  the  special  room. 

SECTION  VI.      MARRIAGE 

30.  Every  woman  and  girl  living  in  the  D'oor  of  Hope,  except  those 
who  have  not  yet  reached  a  marriageable  age,  must  be  photographed,  and 
a  copy  of  her  picture,  together  with  her  name  and  number,  is  to  be  hung 
in  the  photograph  room  of  the  institution. 

31.  When  any  man  wants  to  marry  one  of  the  women  of  the  Door  of 
Hope,  he  must  first  go  to  the  photograph  room  and  there  pick  out  the 
picture  that  pleases  him.     He  shall  then  give  the  name  and  number  of 
the  woman  he  has  chosen  to  the  manager  and  will  request  him  to  issue 
an  admission  ticket.     He  will  then  be  taken  to  the  secretary's  office  and 
from  there  be  shown  to  the  waiting  room.     The  inspector  will  bring  to 
the  waiting  room  the  woman  whose  picture  has  been  chosen,  and  the  two 
parties  will  be  given  an  opportunity  to  talk  over  the  question  of  marriage. 

32.  If  both  parties  are  satisfied,  the  man  must  write  on  an  application 
blank,  his  name,  age,  native  place,  relatives,  address,  business,  whether 
or  not  he  is  married  and  whether  or  not  he  has  any  concubine,  and  state 
whether  the  woman  from  the  Door  of  Hope  is  to  be  taken  as  a  wife 
or   as   a   concubine.     This   application   blank,   together   with   two  4-inch 
photographs  of  the  man,  is  to  be  handed  to  the  Board  of  Police  for  their 
official  action.    Together  with  the  application  blank  must  also  be  presented 
a  written  guarantee  of  the  man  signed  by  three  shops.     They  must  also 
guarantee   that   the   man's    intentions   are   not   deceitful,   and   he   is   not 
attempting  to  secure  the  woman  so  that  he  may  resell  her. 

33.  On  the  receipt  of  an  application  for  permission  to  marry  one  of 
the  women  in  the  Door  of  Hope,  the  police  will  make  a  copy  of  the  applica- 
tion and  will  retain  the  two  photographs.     The  original  application  will 
be  forwarded  to  the  manager  of  the  Door  of  Hope  with  the  request  that 
he  investigate  the  case.     If  his  report  agrees  with  the  statements  on  the 
petition,  the  Board  of  Police  will  permit  the  marriage  to  take  place.     If 
the  manager's  report  does  not  agree  with  the  petition,  the  Board  of  Police 
will  refuse  the  petition  or  will  allow  the  man  to  file  a  corrected  application. 
If  special  conditions  are  discovered  by  the  manager  and  reported  to  the 
Board  of  Police,  they  will  appoint  a  special  officer  to  make  a  complete 
investigation. 

34.  When  the  Board  of  Police  has  approved  the  man's  application, 
he  must  go  to  the  Door  of  Hope  and  personally  write  out  a  ^marriage 
agreement  in  duplicate.    The  original  is  given  to  the  woman  he  is  marry- 
ing, and  the  copy  is  sent  to  the  Board  of  Police,  where  it  is  filed  for 
reference. 


484  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

35.  If  any  irregularities  are  found  in  the  statements  on  the  man's 
application  blank  as  to  name,  age,  native  place,  business,  etc.,  by  the  police 
when  they  investigate  the  case,  the  man  making  the  false  statements  is 
liable  to  be  fined  by  the  police. 

36.  When  any  man  marries  a  woman  from  the  Door  of  Hope,  he  must 
subscribe  some  money  to  the  institution,  unless  the  police  have  given  him 
special  permission  to  marry  without  making  the  usual  contribution.     The 
actual  amount  paid  is  decided  by  the  man  himself  and  depends  upon  his 
ability  to  pay.     The  subscription  must  be  paid  when  the  marriage  agree- 
ment is  written  out.    The  manager  will  issue  an  official  receipt  for  the 
amount  paid. 

37.  When  a  man  marries  a  woman  from  the  Door  of  Hope,  he  is  not 
charged  with  her  food  money,  as  the  Government  is  giving  rice  to  the 
institution.     (Sec.  e,  rule  2.)     If  in  the  future  this  grant  of  rice  from  the 
Government  is  discontinued,  a  man  marrying  a  woman  from  the  Door  of 
Hope  must  pay  her  food  money  for  the  time  she  has  been  in  the  institution. 

38.  Any  woman  who  has  any  property  herself  may  take  it  with  her  in 
the  case  of  her  marriage. 

39.  Any  woman  being  married  from  the  Door  of  Hope  must  be  mar- 
ried according  to  the  regulations  of  the  institution.    No  matter  for  what 
cause  she  came  to  the  Door  of  Hope,  she  must  go  through  the  wedding 
formalities  demanded  by  the  rules  of  the  home. 

SECTION  VII.      SUPPLEMENTARY  RULES. 

40.  If  the  relatives  of  a  woman  living  in  the  Door  of  Hope  want  her 
to  leave  the  institution,  she  will  be  permitted  to  leave  provided  she  herself 
consents  to  go.    If  the  woman  has  been  sent  to  the  Door  of  Hope  by  the 
court,  she  cannot  leave  unless  the  permission  of  the  court  is  secured. 

41.  If  the  relatives  of  a  woman  married   from  the  Door  of   Hope 
attempt  to  make  trouble  for  her  and  her  husband,  her  husband  can  report 
the  matter  to  the  authorities  of  the  police  district  in  which  he  is  living,  and 
they  will  give  him  help  and  protection. 

42.  Any  woman  living  in  the  Door  of  Hope  is  allowed  to  speak  directly 
to  the  manager  on  matters  concerning  herself  or  the  Door  of  Hope,  or  she 
may  write  a  petition  and  request  the  manager  to  forward  it  to  the  Board 
of  Police. 

43.  Children  brought  into  the  Door  of  Hope  must  be  taken  by  their 
mothers  when  they  leave.  Pregnant  women  coming  into  the  Door  of  Hope 
will  be  cared  for  by  the  woman  director  at  the  time  of  the  birth  of  the 
child.  The  child  must  be  taken  by  the  mother  when  she  leaves  the  institu- 
tion. Children  over  6  years  of  age  are  not  admitted  to  the  Door  of  Hope. 

DOOR  OF  HOPE  STATISTICS  FOR  IQI7 

Entered  during  the  year 62 

Left,  married    29 

Died   10 

Inmates  at  end  of  year 123 

Expenses: 

Inmates : 

Education   $459 

Food  4,376 

Doctor  639 

Total    $5474 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL  485 

Expenses  (Continued} 
Management : 

Salaries   $3,240 

Food  466 

Miscellaneous    3,043 


Total $6,749 

Grand  total,  $12,225. 

Received  from  the  Government,  $11,836. 


APPENDIX  IX:    POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY 


"VERY  POOR"  IN  DIFFERENT  POLICE  DISTRICTS1 
(Police  Census,  1918} 


NUMBER  OF     NUMBER  OF        PERSONS         PERCENT  OF 


POLICE  DISTRICT  HOUSES 

Central   1 918 

Central  2 273 

Inside  Left  i 479 

Inside  Left  2 828 

Inside  Left  3 1,262 

Inside  Left  4 1,203 

Inside  Right  i 316 

Inside  Right  2 1,134 

Inside  Right  3 1,590 

Inside  Right  4 1,525 

Outside  Left  1 124 

Outside  Left  2 365 

Outside  Left  3 1,118 

Outside  Left  4 982 

Outside  Left  5 428 

Outside  Right  i 224 

Outside  Right  2 28 

Outside  Right  3 1,484 

Outside  Right  4 870 

Outside  Right  5 538 


PEOPLE 
3,887 

PER  HOUSE 

4-2 

POPULATION 
IO.9 

1,097 

4.0 

10.6 

1,911 

4.0 

3.5 

3470 

4-5 

57 

5.252 

4.2 

9-9 

4-54Q 

3.8 

7.5 

1,319 

4-2 

3-0 

4.815 

4-2 

9.1 

6,471 

4-1 

15-8 

6,419 

4-2 

9.8 

502 

4.0 

o.5 

1,501 

4.1 

4-2 

4,960 

44 

154 

4,188 

4-3 

37.8 

1,589 

37 

4-2 

860 

3.8 

2.5 

104 

37 

0.2 

5,5o6 

3.7 

19.9 

3,569 

4-1 

,        10.2 

2,155 

4.0 

8.0 

Total'    15,689 


65,434 


4.17 


&I5 


Central  Districts  are  in  the  Imperial  City. 
Inside  Districts  are  in  the  North  City. 
Outside  Districts  are  in  the  South  City. 
Left  Districts  are  on  east  side  of  city. 
Right  districts  are  on  west  side  of  city. 

1  Translated  from  Chinese  newspaper  of  January  i7th,  1919. 

a  Owing  to  an  error  in  publication  the  sum  of  the  figures  for  the  different  police 
districts  is  1,320  less  than  the  total  for  the  city  given  by  the  police.  The  police 
figures  are  used  for  the  totals  in  the  table. 

486 


POVERTY  AND  PHILANTHROPY 


487 


CHOU  CH'ANG 

Attendance e,  January, 
Number 


CENTERS 

Police   7 

Military  Guard  3 

Ching  Chao  Ying 2 


MEN 
78,184 
15,621 
13,237 


WOMEN 

170,713 

51,913 

55,7^9 


Total 


107,042  278,395 

Percentages 

MEN 

Police    18.8 

Military  Guard 16.9 

Ching  Chao  Ying  14.8 

Total   .  .  18 


CHILDREN 
164,528 
35,505 
20,326 

210,359 


WOMEN 
41.4 

557 
62.5 


TOTAL 
413,425 
93,039 
89,332 

595,796 


CHILDREN 

39.8 
274 

22.7 


46 


Percentages  Individual  Centers 
Police 


1234567  TOTAL 

Men    ii           28          21.8        25.7        13.1        19.8        10.8  18.8 

Women    46.3        34.6        53.1        35-4        22.2        53.7        45.8  41.4 

Children    42.7        37.4        25.1        38.7        26.5        26.5        43.4  39.8 

Military  Guard 

123  TOTAL 

Men    22.8                3.8              29.0  16.9 

Women    41.1               81                  37.6  557 

Children 36.1               15.2               334  294 

Ching  Chao  Ying 

I                         2  TOTAL 

Men 16.6              n.6  14.8 

Women 577              7O.9  62.5 

Children  25.7               17-5  22.7 

1  Figures  translated  from  the  Municipal  Council  Moguine,  1919. 


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489 


490 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


INDUSTRIES  REPRESENTED  IN  TENG  SHIH  K'OU  DISTRICT 


NUMBER 

INDUSTRY  OF  STORK 

Arrows 7 

Bamboo  — 

Brick  and  Tile I 

Books 3 

Boxes I 

Candles  4 

Caps  5 

Cart  2 

Cloth 5 

Coal  8 

Coffins  5 

Cotton  2 

Curios 10 

Drawing  I 

Dyes  I 

Electric  Goods I 

Exchange  3 

Fans  I 

Food: 

Cooked  Food 21 

Fish    I 

Fruit  I 

Grain    I 

Groceries  7 

Ice  i 

Meat  36 

Rice 7 

Tea  5 

Tobacco 2 

Vinegar  I 

Wine  2  85 

General  Stores  17 

Hooks  I 

Horse  Food » I 

Jade  6 

Knives  IO 

Leather  I 

Leather  (Shoe)  I 

Mats  — 

Medicine  3 

Minerals : 

Brass    2 

Iron 9 

Gold   13 

Silver  I 

Mineral  Company —  25 

Miscellaneous  — 

Mirrors  * 

Oil  Shop  " 

Oil  and  Wine 17 

Ornaments  2 

Paints  I 


RESIDENTS  OF  DISTRICT 
WHOSE  BUSINESS  IS 
OUTSIDE  OF  DISTRICT 

I 

3 


I 

2 

I 
II 


17 

2 
I 

3 

2 


TENG  SHIH  K'OU  DISTRICT                    491 

INDUSTRIES  REPRESENTED  IN  TENG  SHIH  K'OU  DISTRICT 

(Continued) 

RESIDENTS  OF  DISTRICT 

NUMBER  WHOSE  BUSINESS  IS 

INDUSTRY  OF  STORES  OUTSIDE  OF  DISTRICT 

Paper    I  2 

Paper  Clothes 3  — 

Pawn  Shop —  2 

Pig  Bristles 27  I 

Live  Pigs 27  7 

Pig  Skins I  — 

Pipes  I  — 

Porcelain  3  — 

Rattan  Ware  2  — 

Rope   2  — 

Screens    3  — 

Second-hand  Goods  II  — 

Shoes    —  2 

Silk   —  i 

Silk  Thread  4  i 

Small  Business —  103 

Soap    6  — 

Spectacles    —  i 

String  —  5 

Stoves I  — 

Tea  Shop 8  3 

Tent    II  — A 

Telephone  Supplies 2  •— 

Transportation : 

Bicycle  Company I  2 

Ricksha  Company  6  2 

Carriage  Company   3  3 

Motor  Car  Company I  6 

Ricksha  Repair  Company.  I  12  —  13 

Watches  I  — 

Water  Jars  2  .  — 

Wedding  Present  Shop I  — 

Wool 2  — 

Business  and  Professional : 

Advisor  —  1 

American  Business  Man  ....  —  2 

Banker —  2 

Bank —  I 

Bookkeeper —  8 

Comprodore  I  — 

Doctor  —  7 

Employment  Agent —  I 

Fortune  Teller  2  3 

Merchant  —  3 

Money  Changer   —  2 

Money  Lender X  — 

Monk  —  I 

Pastor  Christian —  I 

Pastor  Mohammedan  —  I 

Photographer —  I 


492  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

INDUSTRIES  REPRESENTED  IN  TENG  SHIH  K'OU  DISTRICT 

(Continued) 

RESIDENTS  OF  DISTRICT 
NUMBER  WHOSE  BUSINESS  IS 

INDUSTRY  OF  STORES  OUTSIDE  OF  DISTRICT 

Business  and  Professional:   (Continued) 

Secretary  General   II 

Secretary  Legation  —  I 

Secretary  Y.  M.  C.  A —  I 

Student  Agricultural  School  *—  I 

Student  Flying  School —  2 

Student  Other  Schools —  IO 

Teacher  —  16 

Temple  Owner  —  2 

Government  and  Official: 

Army  Officer  —  2 

Mongolian  Prince   —  I 

Official    —  71 

Policeman   —  II 

Railway  Employee —  2 

Soldier  —  loo 

Artisans : 

Barber   7  IS 

Carpenter    19  28 

Carpet  Maker  3  — 

Chauffeur   —  3 

Cook —  30 

Engraver I  — - 

Flower  Maker I  3 

Gardener —  3 

Grain  Grinder  4  — 

Horse  Shoer —  I 

Iron  Worker  —  4 

Jam  Maker   2  «— • 

Knife  Maker 

Machinist    —  I 

Mason    —  20 

Painter    5  4 

Paper  Box  Maker — 

Shoemaker  9 

Paper  Hanger  — 

Singer    — 

Stable  Man — 

Tailor    

Type-cutter    ~~  * 

Unskilled  Workers: 

Carrier,  Baggage   —  IS 

Carrier,  Chair  —  3 

Carrier,  Night  soil —  2 

Carrier,  Water   —  7 

Coolie  —  3 

Coolie,  Ricksha —  34 

Coolie,  Theater —  I 

City  Gate  Keeper —  I 


TENG  SHIH  K'OU  DISTRICT  493 

INDUSTRIES  REPRESENTED  IN  TENG  SHIH  K'OU  DISTRICT 

(Continued) 

RESIDENTS  OF  DISTRICT 

NUMBER  WHOSE  BUSINESS  IS 

INDUSTRY                                                                    OF  STORES  OUTSIDE  OF  DISTRICT 

Unskilled  Workers :  (Continued) 

Door-keeper ' —                                  8 

Driver    14 

Farmer    —                                   2 

Laborer  —                                72 

Messenger    —                                  3 

Peddlers : 

Cloth    I 

Cooked  Food —                                  2 

Ice —                                  I 

Meat —                                  3 

Oil ii                                   3 

Servant    —                                 27 

No  Business  —                                93 

Factories,  etc.: 

Cloth  Factory  I 

Electrical  Supply  IO 

Laundry    2                                    I 

Printing  House 2                                    3 

Slaughter  House   52                                 16 

Foreign  and  Official : 

American  Board  Church....  —                                  2 

American  Board  Chapel I 

Dispensary  and  Drug  Store.  I                                  — 

International  Reform  Bureau  —                                  2 

Manchu  Office —                                  I 

Military  Guard  Headquarters  —                                  2 
North  China  Union  Women's 

College  —                                  I 

Police  Headquarters  —                                  2 

School    —                                  4 

Half-Day  School  

Temple —                                   5 

Women's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union — 

Yamen  — •                                  4 

Other  Houses: 

Bath  House  —                                 6 

Hotel    — 

Lodging  House  for  Laborers  — 

Store  House   — 

Street  Cleaner's  House — 

Watchman's  House — 

Water  Carrier's  House — 

Water  Company  Office * 

Well   — 

Empty  Houses  

Total    .  493                           J.°l6 


7. 
8. 


494  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

LIST  OF  SHOPS  AND  STORES  ON  THE  WEST  SIDE  OF  HATA- 
MEN  FROM  CHU  SHIH  TA  CHIEH  TO  TENG  SHIH  K'OU 

Chu  Shih  Ta  Chieh. 

2.  Pu  Hsiang  Lou  Pork  Shop. 

3.  Pu  Hua  Lou  Pork  Shop. 

4.  Knei  Yun  Lou  Food  Shop. 

5.  Yuan  Ping  Tai  Cotton  Store. 

6.  Yi  Hsing  Cart  Supply  Store. 

Kung  Chien  Ta  Yuan. 

Yi  Yuan  Kerosene  Store. 
Hung  Yuan  Ch'ang  Oil  and  Wine  Store. 

9.  Yung  Sheng  Brass-ware  Store. 

10.  Te  Pao  Curio  Store. 

11.  Tung  Shun  Curio  Store. 

12.  Ta  Tung  Money  Changer. 

13.  Mao  Sheng  Paint  Store. 

14.  Jui  Hsing  Ho  Tobacco  Store. 

15.  Cake  Shop. 

16.  Chu  Ming  Chai  Bread  Store. 

Kung  Chien  Ta  Yuan. 

17.  Yung  Hsing  Cart  Supply  Store. 
i&  Tai  Ping  Motor  Car  Co. 

19.  Jewelry  Shop. 

20.  Mohammedan  Mosque. 

21.  Wen  Hsing  Engraving  House. 

22.  Kuang  Hsing  Bamboo  Steamer  Shop. 

23.  Heng  Hsin  Cheng  Brick  and  Tile  Shop. 

24.  Heng  Fa  Porcelain  Store. 

25.  Ta  Chun  Cart  Supply  Shop. 

26.  Ho  P'ing  Shoe  Shop. 

27.  Tung  Sheng  Hsing  Dry  Goods  Store. 

28.  Yi  Hsing  Yung  Feather  Duster  Shop. 

29.  Tung  Shun  Bamboo  Steamer  Shop. 

30.  Chi  Chang  Bamboo  Blind  Store. 

31.  Po  Ku  Chai  Curio  Store. 

32.  Te  Lung  Bicycle  Shop. 

33.  Chuan  Hsing  Iron  Store. 

34.  Bankrupt  Store. 

Fu  Kuei  Ta  Yuan 

49.  Shih  Tsu  Ho  Dispensary. 

50.  Bankrupt  Store. 

51.  Jui  Sheng  Carriage  Shop. 

52.  Yung  Hsing  Iron  Shop. 

53.  Ch'en  Hsing  Yuan  General  Store. 

54.  Cake  Store. 

55.  Hsiao  Wen  Chai  Watch  Repair  Shop. 

56.  Heng  Hsi  Mutton  Shop. 

57.  Ching  Chang  Yung  General  Store. 
5a  Jih  Sheng  Bath  House. 

59.  Chang  Hsing  Chu  Jewelry  Shop. 

60.  Jui  Lien  Paint  Shop. 

61.  Bankrupt  Store. 

62.  Vegetable  Shop. 


TENG  SHIH  K'OU  DISTRICT  495 

63.  Tung  Sheng  Tai  Cart  Supply  Shop. 

64.  Tung  Sheng  Yung  Dye  Shop. 

65.  Bankrupt  Store. 

66.  Military  Guard  Headquarters. 

67.  Te  Lung  Chuan  Rice  Shop. 

Pao  Fang  tfut'ung 

68.  Oil  and  Wine  Shop. 

69.  Oil  and  Wine  Shop. 

70.  Yi  Hsing  Ho  Curio  Store. 

71.  Wan  Chi  Shoemaker. 
7IA.  Chu  Yuan  Mutton  Shop. 

72.  Wan  Ho  Soda  Shop. 

73.  Tai  Lai  Exchange  Shop. 

74.  Bankrupt  Store. 

75.  Fortune-Teller. 

76.  Tung  Chu  Cotton  Shop. 

77.  Kuan  Yi  Ho  Pottery  Store. 

78.  Shuang  Ho  Yuan  Restaurant. 

79.  Ta  Shun  Congee  Stall. 

80.  Ta  Yu  General  Store. 

81.  Barber  Shop. 

82.  Wu  Ho  Iron  Store. 

83.  Bankrupt  Store. 

84.  Empty. 

85.  Te  Shou  Coffin  Store. 

86.  Yung  Chu  Hao  Money  Changer. 

87.  Te  Hsiao  Chai  Paper  Article  Store. 

88.  Jung  Ho  Hsuan  Tea  Shop. 

89.  Tung  Cheng  Hsuan  Cosmetic  Shop. 

90.  Lung  Yuan  Fruit  Store. 

Chien  Ch'ang  Hufung. 

91.  Yi  Hsing  Cheng  Iron  Stove  Store. 

92.  Wan  Ch'ung  Electric  Supply  Store. 

93.  Wan  Ho  Iron  Workers. 

94.  Chang  Shun  Yung  Barber  Shop. 

95.  Bankrupt  Store. 

96.  Carpenter  Shop  and  Two  Residences. 

97.  Te  An  Drug  Store. 

98.  Te  Sheng  Noodle  Shop. 

99.  Fu  Chu  Hao  Cigarette  Store. 

100.  Te  Shun  Cheng  Iron  Store. 

101.  Tien  Ho  Yung  Mat  Shop. 

102.  Chin  Yi  Hao  Carpet  Shop. 

103.  Tien  Te  Ho  Brick  and  Tile  Shop. 

104.  Cart  Supply  Shop. 

105.  Several  Small  Businesses. 

106.  Kuang  Tai  Kung  General  Store. 

107.  Store-house. 

108.  Te  An  T'ang  Drug  Store. 

109.  Iron  Store. 
no.  Water  Carrier. 

in.  Kuang  Hsing  Lung  Curio  Store. 

H2.  Tung  Hsing  Barber  Shop. 

113.  Chien  Yi  Ho  Rice  Shop. 

114.  Tung  Shun  Ho  Iron  Workers. 


496 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


115.  Chu  Yu  Bicycle  Shop. 

116.  Fu  Sheng  Tea  Shop. 

117.  Heng  Shun  Chang  Pottery  Store. 

118.  Sung  Ku  Chai  Curio  Store. 

119.  Lu  Ta  Electric  Store. 

120.  Jung  Hsing  Yung  Curio  Store. 

121.  San  Yi  Yung  Noodle  Store. 

122.  Chun  Tai  Shan  Grocery  Store. 

123.  Wu  Chen  Pork  Store. 

124.  Exchange  Shop. 

125.  Fu  Chi  Stocking  Store. 

126.  Cake  Shop. 

127.  Tung  Hsing  Chang  Marriage  Portion  Store. 

128.  Wan  Cheng  Mutton  Shop. 

129.  Wan  Hsing  Kerosene  Store. 

POOR  FAMILIES 


NUMBER 

OF 
STREET  FAMILIES 

Hsiao  Po  Ko  Shih 15 

Kuan  Fang  Ta  Yuan 12 

Hsin  Yi  Ta  Yuan 2 

Yii  Shih  Hut'ung  2 

Hsiao  Yang  Shih  6 

Kung  Chien  Ta  Yuan  ...  3 

Chien  Ch'ang  Hut'ung  ...  4 

Pao  Fang  Hut'ung I 

Hatamen  Street I 

Total  46 

Percent    


TOTAL 

PERSONS 

PER- 

PER 

SONS 

MEN 

BOYS 

WOMEN 

GIRLS 

HOUSE 

89 

40 

19 

18 

12 

5-9 

67 

29 

II 

15 

12 

5-6 

IO 

I 

3 

4 

2 

5-0 

9 

ej 

— 

i 

3 

4-5 

23 

8 

4 

6 

5 

3-8 

13 

4 

3 

4 

2 

4-3 

18 

9 

3 

4 

2 

4.5 

i 

I 

— 

— 

— 

2. 

3 

I 

— 

I 

I 

3- 

233 


98 

42.1 


43 
18.4 


53 

22.8 


39 
16.7 


5-1 


BUSINESS 


Small  Business n 

Soldiers 10 

Ricksha  Coolies  8 

Peddlers  3 

Shoemakers 3 

Pig  Stores  2 


Manchu  Official  i 

Mason  i 

Policeman    I 

Servant  i 

No  Business 5 

Total  46 


RELIGION 

Buddhists   33      Christians 2 

Conf ucianists    10      Mohammedans  i 


Total 


46 


APPENDIX  XI:    CHURCH  SURVEY 


CHURCH  FAMILIES 


Number  of  families 

TENG 
SHIH   K'OU 
147 

PEI  T'ANG 
no 

CH'I 

HUA   MEN 
68 

TOTAL 
72  S 

Total  Persons 

.      60« 

•?oo 

TOO 

w  —  */ 

1,217 

Average  persons  per 

family  .  .  . 

4-1 

owv 

2.7 

O^^ 

4.5 

A>^*     / 

37 

Largest  family  .... 

z 

!O                         _ 

8 

12 

2O 

SIZE  OF 

FAMILIES 

TENG 

CH'I 

SHIH 

PER-            PEI 

PER- 

HUA 

PER- 

PER- 

K'OU 

CENT      T'ANG 

CENT 

MEN 

CENT 

TOTAL 

CENT 

I                        47 

7,2               46 

42 

17 

10 

106 

77 

2     .                     14 

O*  '                          *li 

10              14 

•I  f* 
13 

*«J 

C 

*3P 

7 

33 

OO 

IO 

7       ,                           17 

*T 

911 
•• 

*O 

IO 

W 

II 

16 

7C 

ii 

A       ,                             J 

5           18 

16 

IO 

1C 

O«/ 
7C 

ii 

5           .        18 

o           i%j 

12                  O 

8 

6 

*o 

oo 
^1 

IO 

6    17 

**•              y 
II             IO 

7 

oo 
72 

IO 

7    .                   II 

8            — 

g 

/ 

12 

O1** 

IO 

6 

8     .                     Q 

6                  2 

2 

7. 

4" 

*3J 

14 

97 

2               — 

O 

I 

1 
2 

**f 

4 

•       i 

IO     2 

I               — 

7 

4 

^ 

c 

2 

II     2 

I                — 

O 

2 

*T 
7 

9 

4. 

I 

12     .                       "* 

2               — 

I 

o 
2 

T* 

I 

2O     I 

I               — 

I 

SUMMARY 

OF  FAMILIES 

Living    alone  47 

32           46 

42 

13 

19 

106 

33 

Small  fam- 

ilies (2-5).  52 

35-4         S2 

47 

32 

47 

136 

42 

Medium  fam- 

ilies (6-9).  40 

27.2            12 

ii 

17 

25 

69 

21 

Large  fam- 

ilies   (10 

and  over)  .     8 

54        ~ 

— 

6 

9 

14 

4 

497 


498 


PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


RACE  BY  FAMILIES 


TENG 
SHIH 

CH'I 
PER-        PEI         PER-       HUA 

PER- 

PER- 

K'OU 

CENT       T'ANG     CENT       MEN 

CENT 

TOTAL 

CENT 

Chinese    .. 

106 

72.           70          64.           27 

40. 

203 

62 

Manchu    .  . 

36 

25.          40          36.          36 

53- 

112 

35 

Mongol  .  .  . 

5 

3.          —           —            5 

7- 

IO 

3 

RACE  BY  PERSONS 

Chinese    .  . 

415 

69.        202          68.         123 

40. 

740 

61 

Manchu    .  . 

160 

26.          98          32.         159 

Si- 

417 

34 

Mongol  .  .  . 

33 

5.      '  —           —           27 

9- 

60 

5 

PROVINCES  REPRESENTED 

TENG 

CH'I 

SHIH 

PER-           PEI               PER-            HUA 

PER- 

PER- 

K'OU 

CENT     T'ANG       CENT       MEN 

CENT 

TOTAL 

CENT 

PROVINCE 

Chihli 

QC 

61          loj.           01           68 

ino 

2^7 

0 

Manchuria  . 

•2 

VF^                av-**-f                   ir^r                  vJO 

18                                   — 



^07 
26 

8 

Shantung  .  . 

•    7 

543           — 

— 

II 

3 

Mongolia  .  . 

•    5 



5 

Kwangtung. 

•    3 

I           —           __ 

— 

4 

_ 

Szechuan  .  . 

.      2 

__           _           __ 

___. 

2 

_  _ 

Honan   .... 

2 

j              _ 

2 

t 

Hupei  .   ... 

2 

_ 

2 

Chekiang  .  . 

.      I 

i             3 

__. 

2 

_ 

Shansi 

I 

__ 

I 

• 

Hunan  .... 

.      I 

__           __.           __ 

___ 

I 

_„ 

No  data  .  .  . 

.      2 

—           —           —           — 

— 

2 

— 

Total...., 

» 

325 

TIME  IN  PEKING 

YEARS 

1-5    

VI 

23            7            7          — 

. 

AT 

ll 

6-10  

9222 
**                                                           *0                                                           *f 

17 

*o 

II-IC    . 

7 

5                               I                                I                           — 

*/ 

g 

2 

Over  15  ... 

.    22 

15           12           II             3 

4 

37 

II 

Life  

58 

1Q              60              62              6l 

CQ 

No  data  .  .  . 

•  13 

O-^                     **r                                                VO 

9           19           17           — 

— 

32 

10 

Total.... 

• 

335 

SEX 

Male  

•ano 

50.8      167          55.5       159 

51.5 

635 

52 

Female  ... 

.299 

49.2      133          44.5       150 

48,5 

582 

48 

CHURCH  SURVEY  499 

FEMALES  LIVING  ALONE1 


TENG 

CH'I 

SHIH  K'OU      PEI  T'ANG       HUA  MEN 

TOTAL 

Number  

25 

15 

9 

49 

AGES  OF  FEMALES 

LIVING  ALONE 

AGE 

10-15  

2 

i 

— 

3 

16-20  

I 

7 

I 

9 

21-25  

I 

4 

— 

5 

36-40  

— 

I 

— 

i 

41-45  

I 

— 

— 

i 

Si-55  

i 

2 

3 

56-60  

I 

— 

I 

2 

61-65  

2 

I 

2 

5 

66-70  

3 

— 

I 

4 

71  and  over.  . 

14 

— 

2 

16 

Total  25                   15                  9                  49 

1  Of  the  females  living  alone :  i  is  a  teacher. 

1 8  are  in  the  Old  Ladies  Home.  i  is  a  watch  repairer. 

10  are  students  in  school.  i  is  in   the  Women's   Poorhouse. 

6  are  Manchu  Pensioners.  i  is  a  Y.  W.  C.  A.   Secretary. 

a  are  Mission  workers.  7.  No  Data. 

2  are  servants.  Total. ...     49 


AGES 
NUMBER  OF  PERSONS  IN  DIFFERENT  AGE  GROUPS 

TENG  SHIH  K'OU  PEI  T*ANG  CH*I  HUA  MEN  TOTAL 

FE-  FE-  FE-  FE- 

AGE                    MALE  MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT. 

i-5 39   35   74  16   11   27  15  13   28  70  59  129 

6-10 31   24   55  14   15   29  15  13   28  60  52  112 

11-15 26   24   50  17   4   21  15  18   33  58  46  104 

16-20 38   33   71  19   15   34  21  14   35  78  62  140 

21-25 36   21   57  12   18  30  13  8  21  61  47  108 

26-30 30   32   62  16   16   32  ii  10   21  57  58  115 

31-35 17   15   32  16   7   23  12  14  26  45  36  81 

36-40 23   14   37  6   7   13  14  12   26  43  33   76 

41-45 16   ii   27  4   9   13  9  7   16  29  27   56 

46-50 7   17   24  10   ii   21  8  10   18  25  38   63 

51-55 9   13   22  10   5   15  8  7   15  27  25   52 

56-60 9   13   22  6   3   9  7  7   14  22  23   45 

61-65 7   4   ii  8   3   ii  5  9   14  20  16   36 

66-70 7   8   15  i   4   5  3  i   4  ii  13   24 

71-75 i   6   7  —   —   —  2  2   4  3  811 

76-80 i   7   8  —   —   —  i  45  2  ii   13 

81-85 —   i    i  —   —   —  —  i    i—  2 

No  data 12   21   33  12   5   17  —  —   —-  24  26   50 

Total 309  299  608  167  133  300  159  150  309  635  582 1,2:7 


500 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


AGES 
PERCENTAGE  IN  DIFFERENT  AGE  GROUPS 


AGE 

6-IO 

"-'5 
IO-2O 

21-25 
26-30 

31-35 
36-40 
41-45 
46-50 


TENG  SHIH  K'OU          PEI  T'ANG 

FE-  FE- 

MALE MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT. 
13        12        12        10          8          9 


56-60 

61-65 

66-70 

71-75 

76-80 

81-85 

No  data  . . 


10 
8 

13 
12 
IO 

6 

7 
5 

2 

3 
3 

2 
2 


8 

8 

n 

7 
ii 

5 
5 
4 
6 

4 
4 
I 

3 

2 
2 


12 

9 

10 

6 

4 
4 
4 
4 

2 

3 
I 
I 


10 

II 

7 
10 
10 

4 

2 

6 
6 

4 
5 


ii 

3 
ii 

15 

12 

5 

5 

8 

4 

2 
2 

3 


CH  I  HUA  MEN 

IT- 
MALE  MALE  TOT.  MALE 

999  II.O 

9  9-5 

II  9.2 

II  12.3 

7  9-5 

7  9-0 

8  7.1 
8  6.7 


9 
9 
13 

8 

8 

9 

6 

5 
5 
5 
3 

2 
I 
I 


9 

12 

9 
5 
7 
9 
8 

5 
7 

j 

i 
3 


4-5 
3-9 
4-3 
3-5 
3.2 


5 
5 
5 
i  1.7 

1  0.5 

2  0.3 


5      -      -      -     3-8 


TOTAL 

FE- 
MALE TOT. 

10.1  10.6 

8.9  9.2 

7-9  8.5 

10.7  11.5 

8.1  8.9 
10.0  9.5 

6.2  6.6 

5i  6i 

4.6  4.6 

6.5  5-2 

4-3  4-3 

4-0  37 

2.7  2.9 

2.2  2.0 

1.4  0.9 

1.9  I.I 

0.3  0.2 

4-5  4-1 


Total  ....    100    loo    loo    100    100    100    100    100    100    100    100    100 

MARITAL  CONDITION  OF  ENTIRE  GROUP 

Number 


Single          .  . 

ICQ 

116 

275 

84 

MI  78 

84 

6^ 

147 

•J27 

2'?'? 

qob 

Married  

*•  3;J 

131 

127 

**f  J 

258 

*-*T 

75 

G*-7 

66    141 

*^T 

71 

*?J 

02 

iLrt 
133 

«3^v 
277 

•''Oo 
255 

3^j\j 
532 

Widowed  .  .  . 

5 

48 

53 

2 

9      n 

25 

25 

7 

82 

89 

No  data  

14 

8 

22 

6 

4      10 

4 

4 

24 

12 

Total    .... 

309 

299 

"60S 

~rt7 

133    300 

159 

ISO 

309 

"63! 

"582" 

1,217 

Percent 

Single  

-j 

39 

4^ 

50 

40      46 

Cl 

42 

48 

cr 

4O 

46 

Married   

42 

O-^ 

42 

T\/ 

42 

45 

50      47 

JO 

45 

*T*^ 

*fP 

43 

D*- 

44 

£f.V 

44 

*fW 

44 

Widowed  ... 

2 

16 

9 

i 

7        4 

17 

8 

i 

14 

7 

No  data,  . 

$ 

3 

4 

4 

3         3 

2 

i 

4 

2 

3 

Total 100  100  loo  100  100  100  100  100  100  100  100  100 

MARITAL  CONDITION  OF  THOSE  OVER  15  YEARS  OF  AGE 

Number 


Single 63  31  94  38  24  62  42  19  61  143  74  217 

Married  131  127  258  74  66  140  71  62  133  276  255  531 

Widowed  ...  5  48  53  2  9  ii  —  25  25  7  82  89 

No  data 14  8  22  6  4  10  i  —  i  21  12  33 


Total 


.  213  214  427  120  103  223  114  106  220  447  423  870 


CHURCH  SURVEY 


501 


Single  . . . 
Married  . 
Widowed  . 
No  data.. 


Percent 

TENG  SHIH  K'OU          PEI  T?ANG          CH*I  HUA  MEN  TOTAL 

FE-  FE-  FE-  FE- 

MALE MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT. 

30   14   22   32   23   28   37   18   28   32   18   25 


61   60  61   61   64   63   62   58 

2        22         12  2  9  5        —        24 

7455441         — 


61  62  60  61 
ii  2  19  10 
—  434 


Total 100    loo    100    100    100    100     100    100    100    100    100    100 


AGES  OF  THOSE  UNMARRIED  AND  OVER  15  YEARS  OF  AGE 


AGE 
16. 

I7-2O. 
21-25. 
26-30. 

31-35- 
36-40. 

41-45. 
46-50. 

51-55. 
56-60. 
61-65. 
66-70. 

71-75- 
76-80. 


9 

2 

IT 

8 

2 

IO 

6 

3 

9 

23 

7 

30 

26 

21 

47 

13 

II 

24 

IS 

10 

25 

54 

42 

96 

15 

6 

21 

8 

II 

19 

ii 

4 

15 

34 

21 

55 

7 

2 

9 

3 

— 

3 

5 

i 

6 

15 

3 

18 

2 

— 

2 

2 

— 

2 

i 

— 

i 

5 

— 

5 

2 

— 

2 

I 

— 

I 

i 

— 

i 

4 

— 

4 

— 

— 

— 



— 

— 

i 

— 

i 

i 

— 

i 

— 

— 

— 

I 

— 

I 

— 

i 

i 

i 

i 

2 

— 

— 

— 

I 

— 

I 

— 

— 

— 

i 

— 

I 

I 

— 

I 

I 

— 

I 

— 

— 

— 

2 

— 

2 

I 

— 

I 

— 

— 

— 

i 

— 

i 

2 

— 

2 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

i 

— 

i 

I 

— 

I 

Total 63  31  94  38  24  62  42  19  61  143  74  217 

Percent  under 

26  years  of 

age 79  94  84  76  ioo  86  76  89  80  78  95  83 

Percent  under 

31  years  of 

age 90  ioo  94  84  ioo  90  88  95   90  88  99  92 


VITAL  STATISTICS 

TENG  CH'l 

SHIH  K'OU  PEI  T'ANG    HUA  MEN        TOTAL 

Births  last  5  years  89  34  38                161 

Average  per  year 17.8  6.8  7.6 

Birth  rate  per   1,000   28.4  22.8  24.6 

Deaths  last  5  years 35  29  15                  79 

Average  per  year 7  5-8  3                   l$& 

Death  rate  per  1,000  n.i  19-3  9-7                13 

Birth  rate  per  1,000  females  . .       594  5Li  5O.6               55.3 
Birth    rate   per    1,000   women, 

15-50   103  76  95                  94 

Birth    rate   per    1,000   married 

women,  15-50 131  113  131                 128 


502  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

INFANT  MORTALITY 

Report  of  All  Births  and  Deaths  of  Children  in  the  Ch'i  Hua  Men 

Families 

Total  births  305 

Total  deaths   107 

Total  number  living   197  65     percent 

Average  births  per  family  (57)  5.3 

Average  births  per  married  woman  (87)  3.5 

Average  number  living  children  per  family    2.9 

Average    number    living    children    per    married 
woman 2.3 

BIRTHS  DEATHS 

NUMBER                                              FAMILIES      NUMBER                                          FAMILIES 
I II  O 25 

2 8  i 6 

3 5  2 10 

4 6  3 4 

5 4  4 4 

6 3  5 3 

7 3  6 i 

8 4  7 i 

9 5  8 2 

10 i             9 i 

ii 3 

12 I 

14 I 

15 i 

18 i 

Families  with  no  children   ....    u. 


INCOME  PER  YEAR 

TENG  CH'l 

SHIH       PER-         PEI  PER-        HUA         PER-  PER- 

AMOUNT  K'OU       CENT     T*ANG       CENT       MEN        CENT  TOTAL    CENT 

Over  1,000   18  12.2  4  3.6  —  —  22  6.8 

$5oo-$999 ii  7.5  15  13.6  i  1.5  27  8.3 

$250^99    29  197  20  18.2  5  7-3  54  16.6 

$ioo-$249    32  21.8  19  17.3  20  294  71  21.8 

Less  than  $100 22  15.0  32  29.1  39  57.4  93  28.6 

None    35  23.8  20  18.2  3  44  58  17.9 

OCCUPATIONS 
Totals  for  the  Three  Churches 

Teachers 35  Cooks  16 

Manchu  Pensioners   34  Laborers 13 

Students  33  Merchants    10 

Preachers 23  Soldiers 10 

Policeman    18  Artisans    9 

Servants  .  18  Officials 9 


CHURCH  SURVEY 

OCCUPATIONS    (Continued) 
Totals  for  the  Three  Churches  (Continued) 


503 


Paper  Makers 7 

Physicians    7 

Farmers   6 

General  Managers 5 

Secretaries 5 

Artists 4 

Clerks   4 

Army  Officer 3 

Carpenter 3 

Coolies  3 

Masons  3 

Straw  Sellers  3 

Bookkeepers    2 

Candle  Makers 2 

Hotel  Managers 2 

House  Owners 2 

Laundry  Workers 2 

Shoemakers 2 

Surveyors    2 

Tailors 2 

Watch  Repairers  2 

Water  Carriers 2 

Barbers I 

Boiler  Makers I 

Book  Sellers  I 

Box  Makers I 


Carvers 

Carpet  Makers  

Curio  Dealers 

Door-keepers   

Fertilizer  Workers  

Fire  Cracker  Workers 

Firemen  

Horse  Handlers 

Mail  Men 

Nurses 

Oil  Peddlers  

Pasters   

Pawn  Brokers 

Restaurant  Keepers  

Restaurant  Workers   

Sewer  Workers  

Singers   

Treasurers  

Watchmen  

Writers 

Y.  M.  C.  A.  Secretaries 

Y.  W.  C.  A.  Secretaries 

None   29 

No  Data  .  26 


Total 


HOURS  OF  WORK 


HOURS 
PER  DAY 
-i     . 

TENG 
SHIH 

K'OU 

•I 

A      , 

C 

6   ....... 

IO 

7    . 

2 

8     

..      6 

10   

•i 

12     . 

i 

All  day 


17 

54 


PER- 
CENT 


PEI 

T*ANG 


75 


CENT 


CH'l 

HUA 
MEN 


PER- 
CENT 


TOTAL 
3 
3 
12 

19 

25 

22 

8 

8 


129 


CENT 
2 
2 
9 

15 

20 

18 
6 
6 

2 
2O 

100 


Own  their 
homes  ....     23 

Rent  no 

No  Data  ...     14 

Total 147 


HOME  OWNING 
26          24 
13 
100         no         100         68 


16 

75 

9 


18 
04    50 

12     — 


26 

74 

100 


67 

231 

27 

325 


21 


100 


504 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


HOME  OWNING  AND  RENTING  AMERICAN  CITIES 


TOTAL 

Chicago  473,141 

Philadelphia 327,263 

St.  Louis 155,555 

Boston 139,700 

Pittsburg no,547 

1U.  S.  Census,  1910. 


AMOUNT  OF  RENT  PAID  PER  MONTH 


RENTED      PERCENT  RENTED 
342,472  72 


74 
82 
69 


TENG 

SHIH  PER-  PEI        PER- 

K'OU  CENT  T'ANG      CENT 

44  —  32 


50^-99^    ....  — 

$i.oo-$i.99. .  16 

$2.oo-$5.oo. .  23 

$6.oo-$io.oo.  9 

$ii.oo-$i5.oo  7 

$i6.oo-$2o.oo  4 

Over  $20.00  2 

No  data  ...  5 


24 

35 

14 

10 

6 

3 

8 


5 

8 

17 

5 


13 
20 

44 
13 


CH'I 

HUA 
MEN 

9 

12 

8 

7 

i 


10  —  — 


PER- 

PER- 

CENT 

TOTAL 

CENT 

— 

89 

26 

24 

9 

6 

32 

17 

12 

22 

32 

22 

19 

47 

33 

3 

IS 

II 

— 

7 

5 

— 

4 

3 

— 

2 

2 

— 

9 

6 

RENT  PER  ROOM  PER  MONTH 


Less  than  25$ 

25^-49^   .... 
50^-74^   .... 

i.oo-$i.Q9. . 
>2.oo-$2.o9. . 
3.oo-$3.99. . 


520.00 


i 

2 

9 

8 

34 

3 

2 
I 

I 


2 

3 

15 
13 

55 
5 
3 

2 
2 


6 
21 


2O 

17 
60 


17 
13 

3 

4 


46 


ii 


*?  i—  L 


142 


I 

19 
29 

17 

59 
3 
3 

I 
I 

133 


PROPORTION  OF  INCOME  SPENT  FOR  RENT 
Report  of  Ch'i  Hua  Men  Families 


PERCENT   OF   INCOME 

o-5 

6-10 

11-15  

16-20 

21-25    

26-30 

41-45    

91  


NUMBER  OF  FAMILIES 

8 

12 

4 

3 

6 


Average  Rent,  15  percent  of  income. 
Median  Rent,  10  percent  of  income. 


I 

2 

I 

37 


PERCENT 
22 
32 
II 

8 
16 
3 
5 
3 

IOO 


IOO 


i 

14 

22 
13 

44 

2 
2 
I 
I 

IOO 


CHURCH  SURVEY 


505 


AVERAGE  PROPORTION  OF  INCOME  SPENT  FOR  RENT 
IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES1 

Illinois,  U.  S.  A 17.42  percent 

Massachusetts,  U.  S.  A 19-74  percent 

Great  Britain   1348  percent 

Saxony,  Germany  12.00  percent 

1  Ely  and  Wicker,   Elementary  Principles  of  Economics. 

THOSE  WHO  PAY  NO  RENT 


PERSON   OR  INSTITUTION 
GIVING  ROOM 


TENG 

SHIH  K'OU    PEI  T'ANG 


School   10 

Old  Ladies'  Home 17 

Employer    5 

Mission   5 

Friend    I 

Hospital    3 

Poorhouse  — 

No  Data 3 


ii 
I 

ii 
8 

i 


Total 


44 


CH'I 
HUA    MEN 

I 
I 
2 
8 


12 


TOTAL 
21 
19 
17 
15 
10 

3 

i 

3 


ROOMS  PER  FAMILY 


TENG 

SHIH 

NUMBER 

K'OU 

I 

A2 

2  

'    *• 

26 

T.  . 

12 

4.  . 

n 

c.  . 

8 

6 

7  

-i 

8      

Q.  . 

2 

10  

7 

II-IC 

6 

16-20 

cr 

Over  20  ... 

2 

No  data  .  .  . 

.    16 

Total.... 

147 

Average. 

.   4-6 

CH'I 


28 


NUMBER 

Less  than  i . . 

j 29 

2 26 

3 17 

4 17 


PER- 

PEI 

PER- 

HUA 

CENT 

T'ANG 

CENT 

MEN 

29 

23 

21 

21 

18 

12 

II 

14 

8 

27 

25 

II 

7 

3 

2 

9 

5 

13 

12 

3 

3 

3 

2 

I 

2 

2 

2 

I 

3 

2 

2 

— 

i 

—  — 

— 

—  - 

5 

I 

I 

— 

4 

— 

— 

— 

3 

I 

I 

— 

i 

— 

— 

— 

— 

23 

21 

8 

IOO 

no 

IOO 

68 

2.9 

2.4 

PERSONS 

PER 

ROOM 

19 

18 

16 

— 

27 

37 

34 

14 

18 

17 

15 

21 

n 

10 

9 

13 

n 

4 

4 

7 

PER- 
CENT 
31 
21 
16 
13 

5 

i 
i 


IOO 


20 
31 
19 
10 


TOTAL 
86 
52 
50 
21 

24 

I 

6 

2 

8 
6 
6 

2 

47 
325 


-    46 


64 

40 
28 


PER- 
CENT 
26 
17 

1 

7 
3 

2 
2 

2 
2 
2 

I 
14 

IOO 


13 
28 
20 
12 
9 


506 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


TENG 

CH'I 

SHIH 

PER- 

PEI 

PER- 

HUA 

PER- 

NUMBER 

K'OU 

CENT 

T'ANG 

CENT         MEN 

CENT 

TOTA] 

e.  . 

4 

•J 





2 

6 

6  

o 

i 

I 

I 

2 

2 

7  



I 

2 

I 

No  data  .  . 

..    16 

II 

23 

21 

9 

13 

48 

Total... 

.    147 

100 

no 

100 

~~68 

IOO 

325 

Average 

..    1.9 

1-7 

2.5 

2.2 

K'ANGS 

i  

56 

38 

•32 

20 

38 

56 

126 

2  

2«> 

O*-* 

17 

o^ 

-2-J 

^V 

TO 

O*-* 

1C 

*>vr 

22 

71 

3.. 

II 

/ 

6 

OO 

7 

o 

6 

•"•O 

6 

O 

/  O 

24 

4.  . 

7 

t 

/ 

i 

y 

I 

8 

c.  . 

4" 

9 

4 

6 

__ 



. 



^__ 

*T 

7.  . 

I 

i 

I 

i 





2 

10  

I 

i 

. 

- 

I 

I«j     

I 

i 







___ 

I 

No  data  .  . 

..     41 

28 

37 

34 

8 

12 

86 

Total... 

.     147 

100 

no 

IOO 

~68 

IOO 

325 

Average 

..    2.1 

i.7 

i.S 

1.9 

PERSONS 

PER 

K'ANG 

I  

24 

16 

10 

17 

6 

9 

49 

2  

•JQ 

21 

*aF 
22 

20 

8 

12 

60 

•».  . 

2O 

14 

2T 

21 

21 

31 

64 

2«J 

17 

.*J 

7 

6 

15 

22 

47 

*/ 

3 

I 

/ 

I 

I 

i 

i 

5 

2 

7 
3 

n 
5 

! 

2 

7     

3 

4 

3 

No  data  .  . 

..     41 

28 

37 

34 

8 

12 

86 

Total... 

.    147 

100 

no 

IOO 

~~68 

IOO 

325 

2 

I 

15 
IOO 


39 

23 

7 

2 

I 


27 
IOO 


15 
18 

20 

14 

3 

2 
I 

27 

IOO 

Average. .  2.6  2.3  34  2.8 

EDUCATION  OF  THOSE  OVER  NINE  YEARS  OF  AGE 

Number 

TENG  SHIH  K'OU          PEI  T*ANG         CH'lHUA   MEN  TOTAL 

GRADE  OF  FE-  FE-  FE-  FE- 

EDUCATION     MALE  MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT.  M ALB  MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT. 

Returned  Stu- 
dents      9        i  10  —     —  —  —  —  —  9  I  I0 

Professional 

Schools    ...9—  9  8—  8  —  —  —  17  —  17 

University  ...7       2  9  7       6  13  —  —  —  14  8  22 

Others   5        i  6  —      —  —  —  —  —  5  J  6 

Total 

Higher  Schools 30-       4  34  15       6  21  —  —  —  45  10  55 


CHURCH  SURVEY 


507 


EDUCATION  OF  THOSE  OVER  NINE  YEARS  OF  AGE  (Continued) 

Number    (Continued) 
TENGSHIHK'OU      PEIT'ANG       CH'IHUAMEN  TOTAL 

GRADE  OF  FE-  FE-  FE-  FE- 

EDUCATION     MALE  MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT. 

Middle  School  26  14  40  26  13  39  4  3  7  56  30  86 
Good  Chinese  45  15  60  7  i  8  12  i  13  64  17  81 
Can  Read 87  86  173  72  48  120  92  47  139  251  181  432 


Cannot  Read.   12 

37 

49 

5 

ii 

16 

22 

75 

97 

39 

123 

l62 

No  data         .  43 

81 

126 

14 

28 

42 

I 

i 

2 

58 

112 

I7O 

Total    243 

*-V) 

239 

482 

A  if 

139 

107 

T^ 

246 

131 

127 

J^J 

513 

473 

"986 

Children  under 

10  66 

60 

I2O 

28 

26 

54 

28 

2*. 

rj 

122 

IOO 

2\I 

Higher 

J 

Perc( 

mt 

**^> 

Schools    ...  12 

2 

7 

II 

6 

9 

— 



__ 

9 

2 

6 

Middle  School  ii 

6 

8 

19 

12 

16 

3 

2 

3 

ii 

6 

9 

Good   Chinese  18 

6 

12 

5 

I 

3 

9 

I 

5 

12 

4 

8 

Can   Read....  36 

36 

36 

45 

49 

70 

37 

54 

49 

38 

44 

Cannot  Read.     5 

15 

IO 

4 

IO 

6 

17 

59 

37 

8 

26 

16 

No  data  ,       .   18 

tt 

27 

IO 

26 

17 

I 

i 

i 

ii 

24 

17 

Total    100    loo    100    100    100    100    100    100    100    100    100    100 


AGES  OF  THOSE  WHO  CANNOT  READ 


AGE 


10-15 

3 

2 

5 

— 

— 

— 

4 

6 

IO 

7 

8 

15 

16-20  

i 

I 

2 

— 

— 

— 

2 

5 

7 

3 

6 

9 

21-25  

— 

4 

4 

— 

i 

i 

I 

4 

5 

i 

9 

IO 

26-30  

i 

2 

3 

— 

i 

i 

4 

8 

12 

5 

ii 

16 

31-35  

3 

6 

9 

i 

2 

3 

4 

8 

12 

8 

16 

24 

36-40 

2 

— 

2 

— 

— 

— 

2 

9 

II 

4 

9 

13 

41-45  

— 

3 

3 

— 

I 

i 

— 

6 

6 

10 

IO 

46-50  

—  - 

5 

2 

5 

2 

i 
i 

4 

i 

2 

I 

4 
5 

4 
6 

i 

2 

'i 

14 

10 

56-60 

__ 

6 

6 

i 



I 

— 

6 

6 

I 

12 

13 

61-65 

— 

2 

2 

i 

— 

I 

2 

6 

8 

3 

8 

ii 

66-70  

— 

I 

I 

— 

— 

— 

I 

i 

2 

I 

2 

3 

71-75  

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

3 

3 

— 

3 

4 

76-80  

— 

— 

—  . 

— 

— 

— 

I 

3 

4 

I 

3 

4 

81-85  

i 

I 

— 

i 

i 

No  data  

2 

3 

5 

i 

i 

2 

— 

— 

— 

3 

4 

7 

Total 12      37     49 


ii      17      22      75      97      40    123 


Percentage 

under   26 

years  of  age  33   19   23   — 
Percentage 

26-35  ....  33   22   25   20   27   24   36   21   25   32   22   25 


6        32        20       23        28        Ip       21 


508  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

NEWSPAPERS 
Number  of  Families  Subscribing  for  a  Newspaper 

TENG  SHIH  K'OU  PEI  T'ANG  CH'l  HUA  MEN  TOTAL 

NUMBER     PERCENT     NUMBER     PERCENT     NUMBER     PERCENT     NUMBER     PERCENT 

53  36  30  27  3  4  86  26 

LIST   OF  NEWSPAPERS   TAKEN 
Number  of  Families  Subscribing 

NAME  NAME 

Chung  Ch'iang  Pao 23  Shang  Yeh  Pao 2 

Yi  Shih  Pao II  Chu  Shih  Pao 

Chung  Hua  Jih  Pao 9  Ch'ing  Nien  Pao 

Shun  T'ien  Shih  Pao 8  Huang  Yang  Pao 

Peking  Pai  Hua  Pao 7  Kuo  Ming  Kung  Pao 

Peking  Daily  News  (Chinese)  . .  4  Kung  Yen  Pao 

Ai  Kuo  Pai  Hua  Pao 3  Nan  K'ai  Hsiao 

Hua  Wen  Jih  Pao 3  Pai  Hua  Pao 

Kuo  Ch'iang  Pao 3  Peking  Daily  News 

Ch'en   Hsing   2  Peking  Leader  

Ch'en  Ch'ing  Pao  2  T'ung  Yen  Pao 

Chin  Pu   2         Total    89 

FAMILIES  WITH  SERVANTS 

TENG  SHIH  K'OU  PEI  T*ANG  CH'l  HUA  MEN  TOTAL 

NUMBER     PERCENT     NUMBER     PERCENT     NUMBER     PERCENT     NUMBER     PERCENT 

30  20  10  9  40  12 

AMUSEMENTS 
Report  of  the  Three  Churches 

Music 37      Looking  at  flowers 2 

Reading 16      Theater  2 

Singing  12      Studying  the  classics 

Billiards    1 1      Drawing   

Exercise    8      Moving  Pictures    

Bible  Study  6      Playing  at  the  Y.  M.  C.  A 

Gardening    6      Studying  

Basketball 4      Tennis  

Excursions  4      Miscellaneous    

Talking   4 

Walking  around 4         Total   123 

CHURCH  RELATIONSHIP 

TENG  SHIH  K'OU         PEI  T*ANG          CH'l  HUA  MEN  TOTAL 

FE-  FE-  FE-  FE- 

MALE MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT. 

Inquirer 6   5   n    2   —   2   3   6   9   n   n   22 

Probationer. .  22   12   34   4   9   13   2    i    3   28   22   50 
Baptized  136  139  275  118  69  187  100   89  189  354  297  651 

Total  164  156  320  124   78  202  105   96  201  393  330  723 

Percent  Entire 
Group  53   52   53   74   58   67   66   63   65   62   52   60 


CHURCH  SURVEY 


009 


CHURCH  MEMBERSHIP 

THOSE  BAPTIZED  AND  OVER  14  YEARS  OF  AGE 
TENGSHIHK'OU      PEIT'ANG       CH'I  HUA  MEN  TOTAL 

FE-  FE-  FE-  FE- 

MALE MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT. 

118    in    229    100     64    164     83     74    157    301    249    550 


Percent  Entire 
Group  

Percent  of 
those  over 
14  years  of 
age  

Percent  of 
those  over 
14  years  of 
age  and  con- 
nected with 
the  church . 

Number  of 
baptized 
children  . . . 

Percent  of 
children 
baptized  . . . 


38 
52 

83 
46 
27 


55 
74 

92 
23 
30 


93 
32 
35 


43 
62 

88 

101 

30 


ATTENDING  CHURCH 


TENG 
SHIH 

K'OU 

NUMBER 

Male 127 

Female 109 


Total 


236 


Entire  Group . . 

Church  Group. 

Percent  Church 
Group  over 
14  years  of 
age 


PER- 
CENT 

41 
36 


39 

74 


86 


PEI 

T'ANG 

NUMBER 

59 
42 

101 


CH'I 

PER-        HUA  PER- 
CENT     MEN  CENT  TOTAL    CENT 

NUMBER  NUMBER 

35           45  28  231           36 

32           58  39  209           36 


34 
50 


103 


33 
51 


61 


440 


Male 67 

Female 47 

Total 114 

Entire  Group. 
Church  Group. 


ATTENDING  SUNDAY  SCHOOL 


21 

16 


37 
26 


22 
20 


63  

21 
31 


104 

73 

MMM»« 

177 


22 
17 


20 

34 


510 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


CONTRIBUTING  TO  CHURCH 


TENG 

SHIH  PER-         PEI 

K'OU  CENT      T'ANG 
NUMBER  NUMBER 

Male 82  27  52 

Female 106  35          34 

Total    .   .  188  86 


Entire  Group. . 

Church  Group . 

Percent  Church 
Group  over 
14  years  of 
age 


59 


68 


CH'I 

PER-           HUA  PER-  PER- 
CENT        MEN  CENT  TOTAL  CENT 
NUMBER  NUMBER 

31     39  25  173     27 

26     48  32  188     32 


29 

43 


87 


45 


361 


30 
50 


NUMBER  DOING  VOLUNTARY  WORK  FOR  THE  CHURCH 

TENG  SHIH  K'OU  PEI  T'ANG  CH'l  HUA  MEN  TOTAL 

NUMBER  NUMBER  NUMBER  NUMBER 

Males  28  15  15  58 

Females 8  9  i  18 

Total    36  24  16  76 

PERCENT  PERCENT  PERCENT  PERCENT 

Entire  Group 6  8  5  6 

Church  Membership    13  14  9  I2 


TYPES  OF  VOLUNTARY  CHURCH  SERVICE 

TENG  SHIH  K'OU         PEI  T*ANG          CH'l  HUA  MEN  TOTAL 

FE-  FE-  FE-  FE- 

MALE MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT.  MALE  MALE  TOT. 


Preaching  ... 
Church  officer 
Teaching  a 
class            . 

'3  1 

7        2 

21 

6 

2 

I 

i 

2 

7 

6 
7 

i 

Personal  work 
Keeping    rec- 

/ 

4 

i 

I 

2 

o 

5 
3 

Lecturing    .  .  . 
Children's 
Church  .... 
Prayer  leader  . 

—    — 

— 

3 

i 

2 

3 

2 

I 

I1 

Selling    books 
No  data  

4 



4 

Total    ....7 

28       8 

"36 

15 

9 

24 

15 

i        7 

—  7 

—  i 


—       i 


21 
15 

8 
4 

i 
3 


8 


29 
15 

13 
5 

3 
3 

2 
I 
I 

4 


i      16     58     18 


APPENDIX  XII:   RELIGIOUS  WORK 


NEAREST  GATE 


PEKING  MOSQUES 

INSIDE  OR  OUTSIDE 


STREET  OR  DISTRICT 


CITY  WALLS 


NO.  OF 
FAMILIES 


South  City 

Hsun  Chih  Men  Niu  Chieh  Inside 

Hsun  Chih  Men  Chiao  Tzu  Hut'ung  Inside 

Ch'ien  Men  T'iao  Chou  Hut'ung  Inside 

Hatamen  Hua  Shih  Ta  Chieh  Inside 

Hatamen  T'ang  Tzu  Hut'ung  Inside 

Hatamen  T'ang  Tao  Hut'ung  Inside 


2,000 

1,200 
40 

800 


North  City 

Hsun  Chih  Men  Niu  Jou  Hut'ung  Inside 

Hsun  Chih  Men  Shou  Pei  Hut'ung  Inside 

Hsun  Chih  Men  Tan  P'ailou  Inside 

Hsun  Chih  Men  Fen  Tzu  Hut'ung  Inside 

Hsun  Chih  Men  Hui  Tzu  Ying  Inside 

Fing  Tsu  Men  Chih  Pei  Outside 

Fing  Tsu  Men  San  Li  Ho  Outside 

Fing  Tsu  Men  Chin  Shih  Feng  Chieh  Inside 

Hsi  Chih  Men  Shih  Tao  Pieh  Outside 

Hsi  Chih  Men  Nan  K'ou  Yen  Inside 

Te  Sheng  Men  Ta  Kuan  Outside 

Te  Sheng  Men  Ma  Tien  Outside 

An  Ting  Men  An  Ting  Men  Kuan  Outside 

An  Ting  Men  Erh  T'iao  Hut'ung  Inside 

Tung  Chih  Men  Erh  Li  Chuang  Outside 

Tung  Chih  Men  Nan  Hsiao  Chieh  Inside 

Ch'i  Hua  Men  Chung  Chieh  Outside 

Ch'i  Hua  Men  Hsia  P'o  Outside 

Ch'i  Hua  Men  Pa  Li  Chuang  Outside 

Ch'i  Hua  Men  Tou  Ya  Ts'ai  Hut'ung  Inside 

Ch'i  Hua  Men  Lu  Mi  Ts'ang  Hut'ung  Inside 

Hatamen  Su  Chou  Hut'ung  Inside 

Hatamen  Chien  Tzu  Hsiang  Inside 

Hatamen  Tung  Ssu  P'ailou  Inside 

Tung  Hua  Men  Ting  Tzu  Chieh  Inside 

Hou  Men  Nan  Hai  Yen  Inside 

5" 


160 

80 
45 

100 

6b 
40 

20 

60 

200 

200 

20 

200 

40 
30 

200 

40 

100 

80 
13 

7 

100 

14 

100 


512  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

THE  WORK  OF  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  IN  PEKING 

1918 

|  CONFESSIONS          COMMUNIONS 

iii  iSjiniiii 

Saint  Savior 

North  Cathedral.  1693    5,277    194     —  3,293  42,932    —  3,131  168,955  167 
Saint  Michel 

Legation  Quarter..  1901     1,800      58    895     895    9,500890     890    23,000    35 
Immaculate 

Conception 

South  Cathedral.  1650    1,462      20     —     515    5,5O5    —     49*    19,7^    12 
Saint  Joseph 

East  Cathedral..  1655       727      21      —     430    4,752    —     430    20,813    14 
Notre-Dame 

du  Mount  Carmel 

West  Cathedral .  1723      478       8     —     293    2,746    —     200     6,560     9 

Total  9,744    3Oi    895  5,426  65,435  890  5,232  239,050  237 

Translated  from  report  of  Catholic  Mission  Work  in  Peking. 

SCHOOLS  OF  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  MISSION  IN   PEKING 
AND  IMMEDIATE  VICINITY 

1918 


N( 
SCHOOL                                                                     TEA 

Normal  School  (Hsi  T'ang) 

).OF 

CHERS 

a 

PART  TIME 
TEACHERS 

TOTAL  NO. 
OF  PUPILS 
A* 

Monastic  School  (Chala  pres  Pekin)  
Monastic  School  (Maristes)       «• 

6 

14 

8 

70 

TO 

Parochial  School  (  Pei  T'ang)   

6 

I2O 

Franco-Chinese  College  (Nan  T'ang)  
St   Michel's  College              

20 

2 

— 

364 
2O 

St   Michel's  Boarding  School            

tl 

49 

J* 

64  s 

School  of  the  Sacred  Heart  

9 

170 

Pei  T'ang  School     

18 



125 

Nan  T'ane  School  . 

3 



so 

Totals    140  8  1,737 

Translated  from  report  of  Catholic  Mission  Work  in  Peking. 


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ventist  ........ 
S.  P.  G.  (Church 
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513 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


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RELIGIOUS  WORK  515 

PROTESTANT  MISSION  LOWER  SCHOOLS 

MEN*          WOMEN 

I.    Higher  Primary  Schools 

A.  Boys 

Anglican  Mission  (Ch'ung  Te) i                  95 

American  Board  Mission  (Yu  Ying)  I                   70 

London  Mission  (Ts'ui  Wen) I                 100 

Methodist  Mission 3                 507 

Presbyterian  Mission   2                  62 

B.  Girls 

Anglican  Mission 2        .                               61 

American  Board  Mission I                                        90 

London  Mission   I                                         30 

Methodist  Mission I                                         94 

Presbyterian  Mission  I                                        34 

II.    Lower  Primary  Schools 

A.  Boys 

Anglican  Mission I                  40 

American  Board  Mission 4                 no 

Chinese  Independent   Church I                  90 

Methodist  Mission 15  (co-ed)  437                451 

Presbyterian  Mission   13  (co-ed)  195                 160 

Salvation  Army  I  (co-ed)     14                  25 

B.  Girls 

Anglican  Mission 2                                       90 

American  Board  Mission 2                                       IOO 

Chinese  Independent  Churches 3  (co-ed)     89                  30 

London  Mission I                                      30 

III.  Kindergartens 

American  Board  Mission 2                  45                  45 

Methodist  Episcopal  Mission I                                        33 

Presbyterian  Mission  2                 22                 22 

IV.  Poor  Schools  (Half-Day  or  Night) 

Y.  W.  C.  A i                                      50 

Presbyterian  Mission   2                  95 

London  Mission  I                                       20 

Anglican  Mission  I                                       50 

Chinese  Independent  Church i                                      50 

Total    68             1,071              1,465 

Total  Higher  Schools 32             1,818                653 

Grand  Total 100             3,789             2,118 


516 


PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


MISSION  MEDICAL  WORK 
Hospitals 


PATIENTS 


DAILY         YEARLY 

MISSION                          BEDS  AVERAGE         TOTAL 

Methodist  (Men's)    ................  .66  50                     927 

Methodist   (Women's)   ..............     68  50                      987 

Presbyterian   (Women's)    ...........     31  175 

Total    ............................  165  100                  2,089 

Dispensaries 

AVERAGE  DAILY  ATTENDANCE 

MISSION                                                               NUMBER  MEN           WOMEN          TOTAL 

Anglican   ...........................     i  25               10               35 

London    ............................     i  25               25               50 

Methodist  (Men's)    .................     3  135                               *35 

Methodist  (Women's)   ..............     i  60              60 

Presbyterian    .......................    2  15              7o 

Total    ,                                                 8  200            165            365 


APPENDIX  XIII:   QUESTIONNAIRES 

PROSTITUTION  QUESTIONNAIRE 

1.  Is  prostitution  segregated?  Localized? 

2.  What  are  the  principal  districts  for  the  practice? 

3.  Number  of  houses?  Inmates?  Prices? 

4.  General  condition  of  the  houses? 

5.  Do  the  women  live  in  the  houses  or  only  come  for  business? 

6.  How  much  are  the  houses  connected  with  hotels  and  tea  houses  ? 
Located  near   hotels  and  tea  houses?  Directly  connected  with 
them?           Bathhouses?            Relation  to  liquor  trade? 

7.  Amount  of  clandestine  practice?  Estimate  of  total  number  of 
prostitutes  in  Peking? 

8.  What  is  the  present  amount  of  street  solicitation? 

9.  Is  it  localized?  If  so,  where  is  it  the  worst?  What  attempts 
are  made  to  get  hold  of  students? 

10.  WThat  is  the  source  of  supply  of  the  women? 

11.  How   are   the  high   class    women   trained?  In   what    are   they 
trained  ? 

12.  Are  special  schools  maintained  for  teaching  singing  and  dancing  for 
those  destined  for  the  business? 

13.  What  are  the  police  regulations  regarding  solicitation,  medical  exam- 
ination, licensing? 

14.  How  are  they  enforced? 

15.  What  is  being  done  to  rescue  girls? 

16.  The  Door  of  Hope?  Management,  organization,  entrance  regula- 
tions, care,  financial  support?  What  becomes  of  the  girls  after 
they   leave?           Requirements    for    discharge?  How   many   of 
the  girls  become  secondary  wives  ?           Do  they  become  real  secondary 
wives  or  merely  take  the  position  of  "kept  women"? 

17.  Is  the  prostitution  business  organized? 

18.  If  so,  who  are  those  that  control? 

19.  What  is  the  amount  of  sodomy  practiced?  Questions  regarding 
segregation,  source  of  supply,  police  regulations,  solicitation,  number 
in  the  business,  etc.,  as  for  the  prostitutes? 

20.  What  are  the  general  moral  standards  of  the  Chinese  as  regards  the 
sex  relation? 

21.  What  are  the  general  moral  conditions  outside  licensed  prostitution? 

22.  What   is   the   amount   of   irregularity  among  the   men   and   women 
students  ? 

23.  What  are  the  general  moral  conditions  surrounding  young  men? 

24.  Do  those  coming  from  the  smaller  cities  and  villages  think  that  it  is 
the  thing  to  go  "down  the  line"? 

25.  What  is  the  general  relation  of  the  police  to  the  business?  Do 
they  enforce  the  regulations?           Does  there  seem  to  be  much  graft 
by  the  police?           Open  or  secret? 

26.  Number  of  those  brought  into  court  for  violation  of  the  police  regula- 
tions   concerning    prostitution?  Convictions?  Punishments? 

27.  Statistical  study  of  one  or  two  schools  as  to  the  amount  of  indulgence 
in  vice? 

517 


518  PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


PLURAL  WIVES 

1.  Legal  status  of  wife  in  China? 

2.  Legal  status  of  secondary  wives? 

3.  Customary  status  of  secondary  wife? 

4.  (a)  Claim  of  first  wife  on  husband?  Legal?  Social? 

(b)  Claims   of   secondary  wives   on  husband?  Legal    (support, 

etc.)?  Social? 

5.  What  constitutes  divorce? 

6.  Causes  for  divorce? 

7.  Ability  of  women  to  secure  divorce? 

8.  Social  standing  of  divorcees?  Of  divorced  men? 

9.  Social  standing  of  secondary  wives? 

10.  General  social  opinion  regarding  plural  marriages? 

11.  Extent  of  plural  marriages  among  different  classes?  Officials,  re- 
turned students,  prosperous  business  men,  etc.? 

12.  How  much  is  the  taking  of  secondary  wives  determined  by  man's 
financial  status? 

13.  How  far  down  the  social  scale  is  plural  marriage  practiced? 

14.  Occasionally — usually — what  may  be  the  number  of  wives  per  man  in 
the  different  classes? 

15.  What  is  the  relation  of  the  demand  for  male  children  to  plural  mar- 
riages? How  much  is  it  a  contributing  factor? 

16.  Where  are  the  secondary  wives  secured? 

17.  How  is  the  marriage  arranged? 

18.  Is  there  any  different  arrangement  or  agreement  with  the  family  of 
the  secondary  wife  than  with  the  family  of  the  first  wife? 

19.  Do  the  parties  go  through  a  full  and  regular  marriage  ceremony  or 
are  other  formalities  observed  in  secondary  marriages? 

20.  Does  the  woman  have  any  voice  in  taking  the  position  of  secondary 
wife  or  is  it  a  matter  arranged  by  her  family  as  in  the  case  of  the 
primary  marriage? 

21.  Relation  of  plural  marriages  to  prostitution?  Do  they  tend  to 
discourage  visiting  prostitutes  or  encourage  it? 

22.  Are  many  former  prostitutes  taken  as  secondary  wives? 

23.  If  so,  how  are  they  secured?  Purchased?  From  whom? 

24.  How  much  are  secondary  marriage  weddings  of  personal  choice  and 
the  primary  ones  matters  of  family  convenience? 

25.  Are  legal  obligations  toward  secondary  wife  obviated  by  lack  of  ob- 
servance of  wedding  formalities  ? 

26.  Is  relation  to  any  extent  a  matter  of  convenience  and  desire  terminable 
at  will  by  either  party? 

27.  What  is  the  position  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  the  Church,  on 
the  matter  of  having  secondary  wives  ? 

28.  How  much  are  young  wives  taken  by  old  men  ? 

29.  What  is  the  usual  domestic  relation  between  the  wives?  Do  they 
have  separate  houses  or  do  they  live  together?           Answer  for  the 
different  classes. 

30.  What  is  the  status  of  the  children  of  secondary  wives?  Legal  or 
social  ? 

31.  Is  the  breaking  of  the  secondary  marriages  a  factor  in  forcing  many 
women  into  prostitution? 

32.  In  case  of  the  death  of  the  husband,  what  is  the  position  of  the 
secondary  wife?  Is  it  the  same  as  that  of  the  first  wife? 
Does  she  share  in  the  property?  Do  her  children  have  a  share? 

If  so,  on  what  basis  ?  What  is  her  relation  to  the  husband's 


QUESTIONNAIRES  519 

family?  Do  her  children  bear  a  very  different  relation  from  that 

that  she  has? 

Does  the  bearing  of  children,  male  or  female,  have  any  effect  on  the 

status  of  the  secondary  wife? 

What    amount    of    doing    away    with    infants    is    still    practiced    in 

Peking?  Has  this  any  direct  relation  to  plural  marriages  other 

than  that  of  the  larger  number  of  children  born? 

What   is   the   right   of   women  to   demand   marriage   under   certain 

conditions  ? 

Breach  of  promise  suits?  When  possible  and  when  used? 

Marriage  customs?  Old  and  modern? 


PUBLIC  LIBRARIES  QUESTIONNAIRE 

1.  Name. 

2.  Location. 

3.  Type  of  neighborhood. 

4.  Buildings.  Type.  Approximate  size.  Light.  Ven- 
tilation.           Cleanliness. 

5.  On  what  days  is  the  library  open?  Sundays?  Holidays? 

6.  During  what  hours  is  the  library  open? 

7.  If  open  at  night,  how  is  the  building  lighted?  Is  the  lighting 
adequate  ? 

8.  Average  number  of  readers  per  day.  Average  number  of  books 
drawn. 

General  class  of  people  using  the  library. 

Number  of  volumes  in  the  library. 

Subjects  covered. 

Do  the  libraries  contain  foreign  books  ?  In  what  languages  ? 

How  are  the  books  indexed  and  catalogued? 

Regulations  for  borrowing  books.  Number  loaned  to  a  person 

at  one  time.  To  whom  are  books  loaned?  Time  limit  for 

keeping  borrowed  books.  Fines  for  keeping  books  over  time. 

What  guarantees  must  a  borrower  furnish? 

Charges  for  admission  to  library.  Borrowing  books. 

Are  new  books  being  added  ? 

Any  new  books  specially  displayed?  How? 

Are  newspapers  supplied?  How  many? 

Any  magazines  taken?  How  many? 

What  books  are  reserved  for  use  in  the  library? 

Is  there  a  separate  room  for  children?  Special  books? 

To  what  extent  do  women  use  the  library? 

Is  there  a  special  reading  room  for  women? 

Does  the  library  have  any  branches  ? 

What  special  efforts  are  being  made  to  encourage  school  teachers  and 

pupils  to  use  the  library? 

Is  any  help  given  the  readers  in  selecting  the  books  ? 

Librarians.  Number?  How    chosen?  How    trained? 

Salary? 

How    is    the    library    supported?  Public    funds?  Private 

funds?  Admission  fees? 

Annual  expenditures.  Total.  Running  expenses.  New 

books.  Replacement  of  worn-out  books. 

Does  the  library  try  to  attract  people  by  exhibits?  Lectures? 

Do  the  Chinese  have  large  private  libraries?  Are  these  open  to 

the  public? 


520  PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 

LECTURE  HALL  QUESTIONNAIRE 

1.  Name.  Address. 

2.  Type  of  neighborhood. 

3.  Building.  Type.  Seating  capacity.  Light.  Ventila- 
tion.          Cleanliness. 

4.  Date  of  founding?  Purpose? 

5.  Average  attendance? 

6.  Class  of  people  attending?  Is  any  admission  charged? 

7.  Hpurs  for  reading?  For  lectures? 

8.  Subjects  covered  in  lectures? 

9.  Regular    lecturers?  Number?  How    chosen?  How 
trained?            Salaries? 

10.  Special    lecturers?  Number?  How    chosen?  How 
trained?            Salaries? 

11.  Do  lecturers  work  in  one  hall  or  in  connection  with  several? 

12.  Do   lecturers   prepare   their   own   lectures   or  do  they  read  printed 
lectures?  If  read,  who  prepares  the  lectures? 

13.  Are  lectures  given  so  as  to  join  a  consecutive  whole? 

14.  What   limitations   are  placed   on   lectures?  By  police?  By 
supporters? 

15.  What  are  the  motives  of  the  lectures?  Interests? 

16.  What  is  the  value  of  the  lectures  used? 

17.  What  is  the  result  obtained? 

18.  Are  schools  run  in  connection  with  lecture  hall?  Kind? 
Number  of  pupils? 

19.  Does  the  lecture  hall  maintain  a  library?  How  many  volumes? 

20.  Are  newspapers  on  file  in  the  lecture  halls  for  the  use  of  the  pub- 
lic? How  many? 

21.  How  is  the  lecture  hall  supported?  Public  funds?  Private 
contributions  ? 

22.  What  is  the  budget  of  the  lecture  hall?  Total?  Lecturers' 
salaries?           Books?           Newspapers? 

23.  How  are  lecture  halls  controlled?  Public  Board?  Private 
Committee?            Number  of  members?           How  appointed? 
Hold  office  how  long? 

24.  Can  outsiders  come  in  and  lecture?  Under  what  conditions? 

25.  Are  there  special  lecture  halls  for  women? 

26.  What  is  the  extent  of  police  control? 

INSTITUTIONAL  QUESTIONNAIRE 

1.  Name  of  institution.  Location. 

2.  Date  the  institution  was  founded.  By  whom? 

3.  Grounds.  Size.  Is  there  any  law  on  which  the  existence  of 
the  institution  rests?  Upkeep.  Use. 

4.  Buildings.  Number.  Style.  Character.  Size. 
Value. 

5.  Inmates.  Total  number.  Men.  Boys  under  18. 
Women.             Girls  under  18.           Character  (poor,  defective,  crim- 
inals).          Average  length  of  stay. 

6.  Management.  Organization.  (Board  of  Directors,  etc.) 

1.  Name  of  head  man.  4.    Officers.  How  chosen. 

2.  Number  of  officers.  Salaries 

3.  Character  and  training  of  How  dismissed. 

officers. 


QUESTIONNAIRES 


521 


Regulations. 
Discipline, 
are  used? 
Finance. 


How  administered.  What  forms  of  punishment 


Cost  per  person. 

Get  the  budget  if  possible. 

Private. 

If  private,  what  group  of  men. 


7.  Finance.          Expenditures. 

Yearly. 
Monthly. 

Income.  Amount. 

National. 
Provincial. 
City. 

8.  Entrance  regulations. 

Qualifications  for  entrance. 
Formalities  to  be  gone  through. 
Who  recommends  for  entrance. 

9.  Regulations  for  discharge. 

What  qualifications  are  needed  for  discharge? 
After  leaving  can  the  inmates  return? 
Are  they  discharged  or  released  on  parole? 
Is  any  help  given  them  on  leaving? 
Is  any  help  given  them  after  they  leave? 
[O.    Health  and  hygiene. 

Condition    of    the    grounds.  Buildings. 

Clothing  of  inmates.  Food. 


Rooms.          In- 
W.  C.  and  drain- 


Meals  per  day.  Amount  per  person.  Prepara- 

Cost    per    person.  Light.  Meat.  Segrega* 

those    sick.  Baths.  Medical    service.  Hot 


mates. 

age. 

tion. 

tion    for 

water. 
Education. 

Kind  of  education  given.  Subjects  taught. 

Grade  of  education.  Who  are  pupils. 

Hours  of  class  work  per  day. 

Teachers.  Number.  Training.  Salary. 

Number  of  inmates  attending  school.  Special  school  rooms. 

Work. 

Kind.  Hours.  Pay.  Direction. 

Recreation. 

Kind.  Equipment.  Leadership. 

What  is  done  with  the  spare  time  by  the  inmates  ? 

Use  of  holidays. 

Schedule  of  hours  for  the  institution. 
Moral  and  religious. 


What   ones? 


Under  what  direction? 


Religious   services. 

Moral  instruction? 
Facilities  for  segregation  of  special  inmates. 

What  ones  are  kept  in  special  groups  or  alone? 
What  is  the  system  of  rooms  for  the  inmates? 

Single.  Double.  Dormitory. 

Is  there  night  supervision? 

Can  married  couples  live  together? 

Can  families  live  together  in  separate  quarters? 
What  records  are  kept  of  the  inmates? 

Where  they  come  from.  Record  in  the  institution. 

When  and  how  they  entered  the  institution.  Punishments. 

Results  of  the  institution. 

Evident  effects  of  the  institutional  life  on  the  inmates. 

Results  of  the  institution's  work  on  men  after  they  leave. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abbreviations : :   T.  S.  K.  =  Teng  Shik  K'ou 


A. 


Accidents,  116. 

Actors  and  actresses,  35,  223-6,  280. 

Actors  Apprentice  School,  147. 

Additions  to  churches,  374,  376-7, 
513-514. 

Age,  40,  102-4,  343-5.  4*4,  499  J  at 
death,  417;  illiterates,  361, 
507;  at  marriage,  no,  347; 
midwives,  419;  misdemean- 
ants, 81,  410;  poor,  329; 
prisoners,  315,  318;  and 
sex,  105-8,  344,  416,  499; 
suicides,  117,  417;  unmar- 
ried, 346,  501. 

Ages,  Chinese  and  American,  104, 
414. 

Agriculture  and  Commerce,  Minis- 
try of,  66,  134,  204,  206,  210, 
216,  452,  454-8,  465,  47L 

Agriculture,  Temple  of,  36,  237,  369. 

Agricultural  Experiment  Station, 
237-8. 

Ahlefeld,  Countess,  113,  285. 

Ahong,  372. 

Akuta,  46. 

Albazin,  42,  99,  373,  375- 

Altar  of  Heaven,  41,  368. 

American  Association  of  N.  China, 

384- 
American    Bible    Society,    378, 

388,  513. 

Board  Mission,  40,  137,  318,  324, 
378,  381,  383,  385,  387,  5U, 
515. 

Boycott,   197. 

Cities,  population,  30,  94-96,  99, 
102-6,    no,    116,    247,    339, 
346,  355,  4U-5,  504. 
Hospitals,   1 18. 
Indemnity  College,  70,  128,  240, 

288. 

Legation,  59,  384. 
Americans,  30,  in. 
Amfilohy,  Arch.  L.,  376. 
Amusements,  35,  223-41,  361,  475-6, 

508. 
An,  368. 


Anfu  Party,  211,  400. 

Anglican    Mission,    137,    318,    378, 

384-6,  513,  515-6. 
Animal  husbandry,  382. 
Apprentice  Maxims,   188,  440-4. 
Rules,  186-90,  440-44. 
School,  136,  145-7,  218,  423. 
Apprentices,  184,  219-20,  294-5,  328, 

430,  489. 
Apprenticeship,  33,  164,  169,  186-90, 

226-8. 

Archimandrites,  376. 
Area  Peking  cities,  29,  56-8,  60,  413. 
Assembly,  National,  66. 
Assemblies  of  God,  378,  513. 
Athletic  clubs,  239-241. 
Athletics,  27,  36,  131,  223,  239,  387. 
Attendance,    Church    and    Sunday 

School,  41,  363,  5°9,  513-4. 
Automobiles,  63,  73. 

B. 

Band,  77. 

Bank  of  China  Notes,  55,  184,  196, 
216,  286. 

Banks,  35,  215. 

Bannermen,  49,  56,  97,  325. 

Bannermen     Schools ,    129-30,     138, 
420. 

Baptist  Missionary  Society,  378,  513. 

Barbers  Gild,  167,  191,  198,  430-8. 

Bath  houses,  232,  395. 

Baths,  institutional,  288,  292,  313* 

Bay  of  Chihli,  51. 

Beds,  292,  296,  313,  358,  506. 

Beggars,  29,  257,  270,  274-6. 

Bevan,  L.R.O.,  144. 

Bible  classes,  42,  387. 

Societies,  378,  388,       _ 
Teachers   Training  School,  42, 
136,  324,  386. 

Bibles,  sales  of,  388. 

Big  money,  215. 

Billiards,  35-6,  234-5,  238,  389,  475. 

Bird  flying,  229. 

Birth  rate,  31,  115,  347,  501. 

Births,  74,  n.5,  347,  417,  5<>i. 
Masculinity  of,  116. 


5ch( 


525 


526 


PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


Blind  Gild,  166,  172-3. 

Mission   to    Chinese,    378,   388, 

513. 

Schools   for,   27,   32,    146,   152, 
388,  420. 

Board    of    Education,    Local,    32, 
132-3,  136,  140-1,  145-6,  148, 
150-1,  157,  213,  289,  423. 
National,  32,  35,  67,  132-4,  137- 
40,  151-7. 

Board  of  Health,  29,  77,  84-5,  114. 

Board  of  War,  66,  70,  119,  134,  220. 

Boston  Population,  94,  96,  105,  339, 
4I3-S. 

Bowling,  234-5,  389,  475- 

Boxers,  29,  49,  163,  376,  380. 

Boycott,  193,   197,  211. 
American,   197. 
Japanese,  88,   197,  396. 

Boys  in  school,  32,  130,  133-7,  374, 
381-2,  385,  389,  515. 

Boys'  schools,  119,  130,  132,  134-7, 
374,  377,  381-2,  385,  389, 
397,  400,  420,  515. 

Braille,  32,  146,  388. 

Branch  library,  153,  156. 

British  Chamber  of  Commerce,  38^. 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  378, 

388,  513. 
Legation,  59,  384. 

Brothels,  37,  73,  246,  477-9. 

Buchman,  F.N.D.,  26,  389. 

Buddhism,  41,  328-9. 

Buddhist  Orphanage,  289-90. 
Reform   Society,   125,  3702. 

Buddhists,  40,  329,  364,  489,  496. 

Building,  97. 

Permits,  74,  76,  84. 

Burial  of  poor,  198,  267. 

Burial  Permits,  83. 

Business,  163-222,  326,  329,  490-6, 
502-3 ;  and  government, 
202,  210;  and  police,  34, 
200,  216-8;  and  politics, 
164;  and  population  density, 
94 ;  and  poverty,  271 ;  and 
sex  distribution,  99,  327. 


Cabinet,  29,  66. 
Calendar  distribution,  394-5. 
Canals,  61. 
Carriages,  63,  73. 
Card  games,  230. 
Carts,  54,  62,  63,  73- 
Cathedrals,  41,  373,  $12. 
Catholic  mission,  27,  41,  373-4,  512. 
schools,   374,  512. 


Catholics,  328,  374,  489,  512. 
Cavalry,  77-8,  407. 
Censorship  of  theatres,  226-7. 
Census,  29,   76,  83,  91-3,   H3>  321, 

412-6,  488^9. 
Central  Park,  236. 
Library,  153-5. 

Central  police  districts,  29,  59. 
Chan  Lin,  369. 
Chairs,  63. 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  34,  71,  163, 

204-13,  451-8;  British,  384; 

courts,   34,   206-10,   463-71 ; 

gilds    in,    205,    212,    461-2; 

and  officials,  210-2;  Peking, 

212,    458-61;    and    strikes, 

196. 

Chang  Chung  Hsiang,  87. 
Chang  Hsun,  50. 
Chapels,  42,  378-9,  513-4. 
Chao  Er  Hsun,  309. 
Charges    for    amusements,    226-7, 

232,  234-5,  237-8. 
Charity,  Sisters  of,  41,  374. 
Ch'en  Huan  Chang,  369. 
Ch'i,  City  of,  44. 
Ch'i  Jen,  97. 
Ch'i  Hua  Men's  Chapel,  40,  335-367, 

338,  497-Sio. 
Chi  Liang  So,  see  Door  of  Hope, 

60. 

Ch'ia  Ch'ing,  58. 
Chiao  Yu  Pu,  137. 
Chicago  population,  99,  413-4. 
Ch'ien  Lung,  44,  372. 
Ch'ien  Men,  54. 
Chihli,  Bay  of,  51. 

Province,  51^. 

Children's  Library,   153-5. 
Chin  Dynasty,  44,  46. 
Ch'in  Shih  Huang  Ti,  45. 
China-for-Christ,  42,  387. 
China  Medical  Board,  31,  42,  118, 

384-5- 
Missionary     Association,     119, 

398. 

Chinese,  97,  274-5,  34*,  498. 
Army,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  300. 
City,  29,  56. 

Church  schools,  381,  514. 
Independent    church,    42,    380, 

3$7,  400,  514-5. 
Ching    Chao,    29,    38,    68-70,    134, 

277-9,  3i8. 
Prison,  70,  317. 
Ching  Shan,  61. 
Ch'ing  Dynasty,  49,  56. 


INDEX 


527 


Ch'ing  Ming  Yuan,  61. 

Cholera,   116-7. 

Chou   Ch'ang,   38,   74,   276-80,   373, 

487. 

Chou  dynasty,  44. 
Chou  Li,  265. 
Christ,  312. 
Christian    workers,    Chinese,    378, 

513. 
foreign,  513. 

Christianity,  25,  373-392;  effect  of, 
391-2. 

Christians,  328,  374,  386,  489,  496. 

Chu  Jen,  128. 

Chu  Ko  Liang,  176. 

Chu  Tzu  Tien,  236. 

Chu  Yuan  Chang,  48. 

Chuang  Yuan,   128. 

Chung  Hai,  61. 

Chung  Tu,  46. 

Church,  attendance,  41,  363,  $09, 
513-4;  cbntributors,  364, 
510;  growth,  374,  380, 
512-4 ;  families,  statistics 
of,  104,  107,  109,  115,  335- 
67;  497-510;  membership, 

41,  362,    377,    509,    512-4; 
questionnaire,     337 ;      self- 
support,      364 ;       statistics, 
512-4;    survey,    40,    335-67, 
497-510. 

Church  of  England  Mission,  137, 
318,  378,  384-6,  513,  SI5-6. 

Churches,  Catholic,  373-4,  400-1, 
512 ;  Chinese  Independent, 

42,  380,    387,    400,    514-5; 
Greek      Orthodox,      375-7; 
Protestant  Mission,  42,  378, 
400-1,  513-4. 

Cincinnati,  population,  94,  413. 
Cities  of  Peking,  28-9,  49,  55-8,  64. 
City  of  Ch'i,  44. 

of  Yen,  45. 

Climate,  31,  51-2,  405. 
Clothes,  free,  281,  351. 
Clothing,  269,  280-2. 
Clubs,  athletic,  239-41. 
Coal,  163,  221. 
Coal  Hill,  61. 

Co-education,  32,  136,  162,  515. 
Coffins,  giving  of,  198,  267,  434. 
College,    American    Indemnity,    70, 
128,   240,   288. 

Higher    Technical,    31-2,     134, 
218. 

Mohammedan,  373. 

National  Teachers',  31-2,  128-9, 
134,  162,  218. 


College,  Union  Medical,  48,  118,  136, 

258-9,  384-5,  398,  402. 
Women's,  42,  136,  325,  381,  391. 
Women's  Medical,  42,  119,  136, 
3?4,  386. 

Colonization,  266. 

Colporteurs,  388,  513. 

Commerce  and  Finance,  School  of, 
137,  381,  389,  39L 

Commerce,  Ministry  of  Agriculture 
and,  66,  134,  204,  206,  210, 
216,  452,  454-8,  465,  471. 

Commercial  life,  33-4,  163-222,  430- 

474- 

Communions,   Catholic,  512. 

Community  service,  390,  396. 

Service  Group,  43,  305,  393-4Q2. 

Competition,  Chinese  attitude  to- 
wards, 164. 

Concubines,  244,  259-60. 

Confessions,  Catholic,  512. 

Confucian  Society,  369. 

Confucianism,  41. 

and  poverty,  330. 

Confucianists,  40,  328-30,  364,  489, 
496. 

Confucius,  312. 

Temple  of,  41,  291,  368-9. 

Constitution   of    1912,   66. 

Contributors,  church,  364,  510. 

Convictions,  82,  409-10. 

Co-operative  education,  32. 

Courts,  chamber  of  commerce,  34, 
206-10,  463-471 ;  gild,  194- 


Crime,  80,  309,  314,  317,  4Q9- 
Curricula,  Schools,  131,  145, 


420-1, 


423- 


D. 


Dean,  S.  M.,  396. 

Death  rate,  31,  116,  349,  501;  insti- 
tutions, 285,  316;  sexes, 
116. 

Deaths,  74,  116-7,  417. 

Deeds,  74. 

Degrees,  old  style,  128-9. 

Defectives,  mental,  126,  334. 

Democratic  control  of  government, 
71,  86. 

Density,  population,  30,  94,  271,  326, 

413. 
Dependents,   38,   40,   268,   270,   320, 

395,  486,  496. 
Detectives,  77-8. 
Devil  dance,  369-70. 
Dewey,  Dr.  John,  161,  429. 


528 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


Diet,  269. 

Institutional,    286-92,    298,    303, 

309,  313,  3i6. 
Dittmer,   C.   G.,   116,  269,  271,  281, 

348,  35i. 

Diseases,  infectious,  117,  419. 
Dispensaries,  259,  374,  384-5,  5i6. 
District,  Metropolitan,  29,  38,  68-70, 

134,  277-9,  3i8. 
Districts,  police,  29,  59,  77,  96,  99, 

115,  407-8,  412,  417,  486. 
Doctors,  31,  77,  85,  112,  114,  118-9, 

384-5,  491,  503,  513. 
Door  of  Hope,  38,  77,  260-3,  480-85. 
Douw  Memorial  Hospital,  384. 
Dowager  Empress,  49,  50,  129,  213, 

238. 
Dust  storms,  52. 


E. 


Eddy,  Dr.  G.  S.,  26,  386,  389. 

Education,  31,  41,  128-62,  218,  359, 
420-9,  506-7;  Local  Board 
of,  32,  132,  136,  140-1, 
145-6,  148,  150-1,  157,  213, 
289,  423 ;  National  Board 
of,  32,  35,  67,  132-4,  I37-40» 
I5I-7;  Chinese  Church,  381, 
514;  defects  of,  143-5;  de- 
velopment of,  128-132;  ex- 
penses, 133,  422-3;  ideals 
of,  141-143;  industrial,  129- 
31,  143,  218;  institutional, 
261,  288-90,  292-3,  312,  317; 
medical,  119,  137,  384-5; 
mission,  32,  42,  133,  136-7, 
347,  36o,  374,  377,  381-4, 
386,  389-90,  513,  515;  Mo- 
hammedan, 373 ;  and  official 
position,  128-9;  physical, 
241,  389;  public  health,  119, 
398;  religious,  389;  social, 
147-62,  423-28:  union,  42, 
386. 

Educational     Association,     Peking, 

156-7. 

Society,  Peking,   157-8. 
statistics,  381,  420-9,  513-5. 
Work,   missionaries   in,   32,  41, 
374,  377,  381-2,  512-3. 

Edwards,  D.   W.,  389. 

Elections,  69. 

Electric,  cars,  63. 

Light  Company,  Peking,  219. 

Elevation  of  city,  51. 

Eminent  domain,  74. 


Employment,    how    obtained,    101, 

273- 
institutional,   288-9,   291,   293-7, 

299,  308,  311,  315-7,  395-7- 
Empress,  Dowager,  49,  50,  129,  213, 

238. 

English,  30,  in. 
English  schools,  137,  389,  514-5. 
Epidemic  diseases,  117,  419. 
Evangelism,  42,  378,  387, 
Evangelistic  campaigns, 
Examinations,  old  style,  i: 
Executions,  317. 
Expectant  officials,  30,  232. 
Expenditure,   education,   133,  422-3. 
institutional,     286,    289,     292-3, 

297,  299-301,  309,  315-17. 
police,  79,  408^. 
Experiment     Station,    agricultural, 


Extension,  prison,  316. 

F. 

Factories,  161,  163,  219-21. 
Families,   Chinese,   161,  242,  267. 

size  of,  91,  339-40,  407. 
Family  income,  40,  268,  349-53,  502. 

Rooms  per,  356,  505. 
Falconry,  229. 
Far   Eastern   championship   games, 

240-1. 

Feasting,  35. 
Female  students,  32,  119,  130,  133-7, 

293,    374,    381-2,    385,    390, 

SIS- 
Females,  30,  40,  113,  270,  327,  342, 

412-16,   488,   498;   illiteracy 

of,    360,    507;    unmarried, 

109-10,  346-7,  500. 
Feng  T'ai,  70. 
Fertilizer  Gild,  122. 
Finance,  Ministry  of,  66-7,  134,  137, 

280. 

Fines,  gild,  182,  192. 
Fire  department,  29,  77-8,  407. 
Fires,  79,  407-8. 
First  Peking  prison,  310-15. 
Five  Nations  Poorhouse,  296. 
Five  Saints  Nunnery,  290. 
Flavian,  Father,  376. 
Flood,  51,  266. 
Foochow  incident,  89. 
Food,  cost  of,  269,  278. 

Free,  38,  265,  267,  276-80,  351, 

487. 

Foreign,  230. 
Forbidden  City,  28,  49,  55-6,  61. 


INDEX 


529 


Foreign  missionaries,  27,  41-2,  112, 
374,  377-8,  513-4 

population,  30,  111-12. 
Foreigners,  house  renting  by,  112. 

occupations  of,  112. 
Founding  of  Peking,  44. 
Foundlings'  Home,  285-7,  3°5. 
Franciscan    Missionaries   of    Mary, 

42,  374- 
Free  clothes  and  food,  38,  265,  267, 

276-81    351,  487. 
French  hospital,   118. 
Fu  districts,  68. 
Fu  Wu  Tuan,  393. 
Fuel,  cost  of,  269. 

G. 

Gailey,  R.  R.,  389-90. 

Gambling,  35,  223,  230. 

Gate  houses,  58. 

Gates,  58,  63,  70. 

Gendarmes,  77-8,  407. 

Geographical  location  of  Peking,  51. 

Geography,  29,  51-64,  405. 

German  hospitals,  118. 

Gild  apprenticeship,  186-90;  bar- 
bers, 167,  191,  198,  430-8; 
beggars,  274-6 ;  boycott, 
193,  197;  Courts,  194;  fer- 
tilizer, 122;  fines,  182,  192; 
halls,  175;  history,  166-7; 
hours  of  work,  186;  in- 
come, 181-3;  initiation  fees, 
169,  181,  228;  meetings, 
171-4,  182 ;  membership, 
167-71,  430 ;  organization, 
178-81 ;  patron  saints,  171, 
175-78,  189,  192,  203;  pool 
and  billiard,  234-5;  poor 
relief,  197,  268,  437;  profit 
sharing,  184;  punishments, 
173,  192;  report,  438-40; 
rules,  190;  story  tellers,  35, 
227-8;  strikes,  195-6;  terri- 
tory, 167;  vacations,  186; 
wages,  34,  170,  183-5,  43i; 
worship,  173,  175-8. 

Gilds,  33,  162,  163-202,  430-44;  and 
apprentice  school,  145;  in 
chamber  of  commerce,  205, 
212,  461-2;  future  of,  201-2; 
and  government,  34,  200; 
Korean,  166;  and  officials, 
34,  165,  180,  200 ;  and  police, 
34,  169,  174,  200,  216-8; 
provincial,  36,  224,  232 ;  size 
of,  171,  430;  and  taxes,  165, 
181. 


Girl  students,  32,  119,  130,  133-7, 
293,  374,  381-2,  385,  390, 
SIS- 

Girls,  sale  of,  37,  244-5. 

schools  for,  119,  130,  132,  134-7, 
139,  374,  377,  381-2,  385, 
390,  397,  400,  420,  515. 

Glass  factory,  219. 

Goodrich,  Mrs.  Chauncey,  388,  397. 

Government,  26,  65-90,  406-411;  by 
agreement,  66;  and  busi- 
ness, 200,  210;  democratic 
control  of,  71,  86;  and 
gilds,  34,  200;  national,  29, 
66-8;  provincial,  66. 

Grand  Canal,  48,  53. 

Great  Wall  of  China,  45,  51. 

Greek  Orthodox  Church,  27,  42, 
375-77. 

'    H. 

Hai  Huang  Ts'un,  46. 

Half-day  schools,  33,  85,  132,  138, 
147,  152,  420. 

Han  dynasty,  45,  167. 

Han  lin,  128,  146. 

Health,  31,  114-127,  417-419;  board 
of,  29,  77,  84-5,  114;  cam- 
paign, 43,  398;  lectures, 
115,  119,  398;  ordinances, 
114. 

Heaven,  Son  of,  65. 

Temple  of,  36,  41,  48,  240,  263, 

Higher  Technical  College  31-2,  134, 

218. 

Highways,  city  and  national,  54,  62. 
Hill-Murray  Mission  to  the  Chinese 

Blind,  378,  388,  513- 
Hillier,  E.  G.,  32,  146,  152. 
History,  city,  28,  44-50. 

gild,  166-7. 

Hoagland,  A.  N.,  240. 
Home  conditions  and  prostitution, 

243. 

Home  for  crippled  children,  294. 
Foundlings',  285-7,  305. 
Old    Ladies',    268,    300-2,    304, 

339-40,  344,  499- 
Old  Peoples',  302,  374- 
Owning,  40,  354,  503. 
Women's   Industrial,  77,  2601, 

296. 

Hospitals,  31,  42,  374,  384,  5i6. 
Hotels,  35,  233-4. 

House,  persons  per,  96,  271,  328-9, 
413,  489,  496. 


530 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


House  of  Representatives,  66. 
Houses,  number  of,   113,  271,  326, 
412,  488. 

renting  of  by  foreigners,  112. 
Howard,  John,  312. 
Hsi  Chih  Men,  54. 
Hsi  Chin  Fu,  45. 
Hsieh,  Dr.  E.  T.,  398. 
Hsien,  69. 

Prisons,  70,  307-9. 
Hsi  I  So,  290. 
Hsiu  Ts'ai,  128. 
Hsiung  Hsi  Ling,  290. 
Hsuan  Tung,  50,  61. 
Hsun,  T'ien  Fu,  68. 
Hsu  Shih  Ying,  310. 
Hu  Cheng  Ho,  53. 
Hu  Suh,  Dr.,  158. 
Huan  Wo,  48. 
Huang  Ch'eng,  57. 
Huang  Ho,  51. 
Huang  Ti,  177. 
Hun   Ho,  53. 
Hut'ungs,  62. 


Ice  cream  parlors,  230. 
Illiteracy,  41,  360,  507. 
Illiterates,  ages  of,  361,  507. 
Imperial  City,  28,  49,  56-7. 
Income,  family,  40,  268,  349-53,  502; 
gild,  181-3;  proportion  for 
rent,   356,   504-5;   and   size 
of  family,  271. 
Independent  Chinese  Churches,  42, 

380,  387,  400,  514-5- 
Missionaries,  378,   513. 
Indoor  relief,  38,  267,  283-306,  395-7. 
Industrial    education,    129-31,    143, 

218. 

Home,  women's,  77,  260-1. 
Schools,  69,  129-30,  145-6,  290, 

293,  420. 

Shop  for  women,  43,  397. 
Union,  Lu  Pan,  202-4,  444-51. 
Work,  institutional,  288-9,  291, 
293-7,    299,    303,    308,    311, 
315-7,  395-7- 

Russian  Orthodox  Mission,  377. 
Industry,  modern,  210-21 ;  and  sex, 
99;  women  in,  40,  220,  327. 
Infant  mortality,  116,  348,  502. 
Infectious  diseases,  117,  419. 
Innocent,  Bishop,  375-6. 
Insane  Asylum,  85,  125. 

Criminals,  81. 
Insanity,  Amount  of,  126. 


Inside  Police  Districts,  29,  59. 
Institutional  Diet,  286-92,  298,  303, 

309,  313,    3i6;    education, 
261,  288-90,  292-3,  312,  317; 
expenses,    286,    289,    292-3, 
297,    299-301,    309,     315-7; 
medical  attendance,  288,  291, 
299,      313 ;      questionnaire, 
520;    recreation,    219,    288, 
296,    309,    313;    relief,    38, 
267,  283-306,  395-7 ;  sanitary 
conditions,  296-7,  209,  301, 
308,  311,   315,   317;   wages, 
286,    288,    291-2,    294,    296, 
299,    303,    308,    311,    316-7; 
work,  288-9,  291,  293-7,  299, 
308,  311,  315-7,  395-7. 

Institutions,  inmates  of,  285-7,  289- 

90,   294-8,   300,   302-3,   308, 

311,  314-7- 
Interior,   minister  of,  29,  66-7,  71, 

75-6,  91,  93,   134,  236,  279, 

286,  290,  445-6. 

International  Recreation  Club,  241. 
International  Reform  Bureau,  325, 

378,  513. 

J. 

Jade  fountain,  60,  61. 
Japanese,  boycott,  88,  197,  396. 

hospitals,  118. 

number  of,  30,  in. 

in  Shantung,  87. 

Teachers,  131. 
Jenghiz  Khan,  46. 
Jenzeutang    Orphanage,    42,    374. 
Jesuit  Fathers,  41,  374. 
fyunesse,  La,  go,   160. 
Jews,  41. 
Justice  and  chamber  of  commerce 

courts,  209. 
Justice,   Ministry  of,  66,   206,  210, 

310,  465,  469,  471. 

K. 

Kaffaroff,  Arch.  Pallady,  376. 
K'ang,  202,  296,  313,  358,  506. 
K'ang  Hsi,  375- 
Kan  Hua  So,  77,  260,  296. 
Kao  Liang  River,  45. 
Karpoff,  Arch.  Gury,  376. 
Khanbalig,  48. 
Khitans,  45. 

Kindergarten,  129,  132,  381,  420,  515. 
Training   School,  42,   137,  324, 

3?6. 
Korean  gilds,  166. 


INDEX 


531 


Korns,  Dr.  J.  H.,  259. 

Kuan,  369. 

Kuang  An  Market,  77,  407. 

Kublai  Khan,  46,  53. 

Kung  Ch'ang,  43,  276,  294,  319,  397. 


Labor  gilds,  33. 

Lakes,  61. 

Lama  Temple,  369,  389. 

Lamaism,  41,  389. 

Land  taxes,  69,  70,  74. 

Language  school,  42,  383-4,  386. 

Lao  Tze,  312. 

Law,  lack  of,  165. 

Laws   for  chambers  of  commerce, 

204,  45I-7L 

Lecture  hall  questionnaire,  520. 
Lecture  halls,  33,  147-152,  424-428. 
Lectures,  42,  93,   148-150,  213,  387, 

389,    390,    394,    425,    444; 

health,  115,  119,  398;  prison, 

312;     temple     market,     33, 

152-3,  213. 

Left  police  districts,  29,  59. 
Legation  guards,  59. 

Quarter,  29,  49,  58-9,   ill,  229, 

380. 

Legations,  59,  384. 
Lennox,  Dr.  W.  G.,   102,  no,  258, 

347-8. 
U  56,  57. 
Liao  dynasty,  45. 
Libraries,  33,  152-6,  389,  427-8. 
Library  questionnaire,  519. 
Licensed  quarter,  242. 
Licensing,    of    doctors,    31,    77,    85, 

114;    of    midwives,    77,   85, 

114;  of  prostitutes,  37,  77, 

80,  246,  407,  409. 
Likin,  212,  221. 
Li  Tzu  Ch'eng,  49. 
Literacy,  41,  360-1. 
Literary  degrees,  128-9. 
Living,  standard  of,  170,  185,  268-70. 
Liu  Hsi  Lien,  394. 
Liu  Li  Ch'ang,  46. 
Lo  Tsu,  177,  431-2,  434. 
Location  of  Peking,  51. 
London    Mission,    378,    381,    384-5, 

387,  515-6. 
Lou  Pei  Yuan,  48. 
Loyal  Temperance  League,  389. 
Lu  Cheng  Yu,  87. 
Lung  Ch'uan  Ssu,  289. 
Lu  Pan,  175,  444. 

Industrial  Union,  202-4,  444-51. 


M. 

Ma  Chiang,  230. 
Machinery  and  the  gilds,  201. 
Magazine,  Municipal  Council,  73. 
Magazines,  student,  33,  90,  159. 
Male  students,  32,   130,   133-7,  374, 

381-2,  385,  389,  515- 
Males,   30,   40,    113,   243,   270,   327, 

342,  488,  498;  excess  of,  99- 

102;  illiteracy  of,  360,  507; 

unmarried,  109,  346,  500. 
Manchu  Bannermen,  49,  56,  97,  325. 

Pensions,  97,  273,  353,  502. 
Manchus,  07,    167,  272,  273-5,  34*. 

353,  498. 

.  Capture    Peking,    49. 
Mandarin,  158,  161-2. 
Marco  Polo,  48. 

Martial  condition,  40,  109,  345,  500. 
Markets,  77,  82,  213,  228-9,  324,  3^9, 

407,  475. 

Marriage,  age  at,  no,  347. 
Martin,  W.  A.  P.,  128  . 
Mary,   Franciscan   Missionaries  of, 

42,  374- 

Masculinity  of  births,  116. 
Mat  shed  theatres,  224. 
Maxims  for  apprentices,  188,  440-4. 
Maximus,  Father,  375. 
Medical,     attendance,    institutional, 

288,  291,  299,  313. 
College,    Union,    48,    118,    136, 

258-9,  384-5,  398,  402. 
College,  Women's,  42,  119,  136, 

384,  386. 

Education,  119,  137,  384-6. 
Missionary  Association  of  Lon- 
don, 385. 
Medical   work,    Chinese   in,   384-5; 

Mission,     118,    374,    384-5, 

513,    516;    Missionaries   in, 

374,  384-5,  513. 
Meetings,  gild,     171-4,  182. 

Police  supervision  of,  83. 
Mei  Lang  Fang,  226. 
Mei  Shan,  61. 

Membership,  gild,  167-71,  430. 
Mental  defectives,  126,  334. 
Meteorological      conditions,      51-2, 

405. 
Methodist   Episcopal   Mission,   318, 

378,  381,  383,  385,  387,  400, 

513,  515-6. 

Methodist  Mission,  United,  378,  513. 
Metropolitan  District,  29,  38,  68-70, 

134,  277-9,  3I& 
Miao,  368. 


532 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


Middle  schools,  129-30,  132-3,  135-7, 

289,  381,  421. 
Midwives,    119,    4*9  J    licensing    of, 

77,  85,  114;  school  for,  119, 

134. 

Military  governors,  66. 

Military  guard,  29,  38,  66,  70-1,  134, 
277-80,  324,  373 ;  and  police, 
70. 

Ming  dynasty,  48,  61,  153. 

Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Com- 
merce, 66,  134,  204,  206,  210, 
216,  452,  454-8,  465,  47i- 
Of  Finance,  66-7,  134,  137,  280. 
Of   Interor,  29,  66-7,  71,   75-6, 
9i,   93,    134,   236,   279,   286, 

290,  445-6. 

Of   Justice,    66,   206,   210,   310, 

465,   469,   471- 
Minors,  punishment  of,  81. 
Misdemeanants,  81,  410. 
Misdemeanors,  80,  81,  409-10. 
Mission  to  the  Chinese  Blind,  378, 

388,  513. 

Mission,  churches,  41-2,  373-4,377-8, 
512;  dispensaries,  259,  374, 
384-5,  516;  education,  32, 
42,  133,  136-7,  347,  36o,  374, 

377,  381-4,  386,  389-90,  513, 
515;   'Greek   Orthodox,   27, 
42,     375-7;     hospitals,     42, 
118,  374,  384-5,  5i6;  Prot- 
estant, 25,  42,  137,  318,  378- 
9i,     5?3,     515-6;      Roman 
Catholic,  27,  41,  373-4,  512; 
schools,  32,  42,   133,    136-7, 
374,    377,    38i-3,    512,    515; 
University,  See  Peking  Uni- 
versity (Union). 

Mission  Work,  evangelistic,  27,  41-2, 

374,  377,  378-8i,  512-3. 
Medical,  42,  118,  374,  384-5,  5*3, 
516. 

Missionaries,  27,  41-2,  112,  374,  377- 
8,  513-4;  in  educational 
work,  32,  41,  374,  377, 
381-2,  512-3;  independent, 

378,  513;  in  medical  work, 
374,  384-5,  513. 

Moat,  56,  60. 

Mobility  of  labor,  164. 

Modern  industry,  219-21 ;  and  gilds, 

199. 
Model  Lecture  Hall,  33,  150-2,  428. 

Prisons,  39,  70,  304,  307, 
Mohammed,  312. 
Mohammedan  education,  373, 

Food,  230. 


Mohammedanism,    41,    368,    372-3, 

5ii. 
Mohammedans,  98,  329,  372-3,  489, 

496. 

Money  changers,  215. 
Mongols,  61,  08,  341,  498. 

Capture   Peking,  46. 
Monopoly,  gild,  109. 
Monte  Corvino,  Giovanni  di,  41,  48, 

373- 

Mortality,  infant,  116,  348,  502. 
Mortgages,  taxes  on,  74. 
Mosques,  41,  280,  372-3,  400-1,  511. 
Mott,  Dr.  John  R.,  26,  386,  389. 
Moving  pictures,  36,  223,  235-6,  389. 
Municipal  Council,  29,  66-7,  71-5,  84, 

249,    279,    285-6,   289. 
Magazine,  73. 
Museums,  77. 
My  Nearest  Neighbors  in  Peking, 

331-4. 

N. 

Nan  Hai,  61. 
National  Assembly,  66. 

Government,  29,  66-8. 
Nei  Ch'eng,  56. 
Neighbors,   my  nearest  in   Peking, 

321-4- 
New    Thought    movement,    25,   33, 

86-90,  158-62,  428. 
New  World,  35,  36,  238-9. 
New  York  population,  414. 
Newspaper  reading  rooms,  33,  148, 

151,   154-6,  428. 
Newspapers,  131,  361,  421,  508;  and 

prostitution,  254-5. 
Night  schools,  43,   162,  389,  397-8, 

SIS- 
Normal  schools,  42,  130-1,  134,  137, 

140,  381,  386,  422,  512. 
North  City,  29,  49,  56,  58,  64. 
North    China  Athletic  Association, 

239-41. 

Union  College,  136,  239-40,  381. 
Union    Language     School,    42, 

383-4,  386. 
Union    Women's     College,    42, 

136,  325,  381,  39i. 
Women's   Union    Medical    Col- 
lege, 42,  119,  136,  384,  386. 
Union  Theological  School,  136, 

381. 

Novels,   155,   157. 
Nu  Hsi  I  So,  206. 
Nunnery,  Five  Saints,  200. 
Nurses'   Training   School,   42,    119, 
136,  384-6. 


INDEX 


533 


O. 

Occupations,     112,    326,    329,    353, 

490-6,  502. 

Octroi,  35,  212,  219,  221. 
Official    life    and    prostitution,    38, 

243,  256. 
Official     position,     and     education, 

128-9. 
Officials,  and  chamber  of  commerce, 

210-2;    expectant,   30,   232; 

and    gilds,    34,     165,     180, 

200-2;  number  of,  30. 
Ogilvie,  C.  L.,  372. 
O-Kai  Owi,  309. 
Old  Ladies'  Home,  268,  300-2,  304, 

339-40,  344,  499. 
Old  People's  Home,  302,  374. 
Opium  burning,  71. 
Oriental  Hotel,  230. 
Orphanage,  42,  267-8,  287-9,  289-90, 

374- 

Outdoor  relief,  38,  264-8,  276-85. 
Outside  police  districts,  29,  59,  77. 


Pai  Ho,  51,  53. 

Palaces,  49,  61,  70. 

Palanquins,  63. 

Pang  Ch'uan,   176. 

P'ao  Ma  Ch'ang,  229. 

Parks,  35,  223,  236-8. 

Parliament,  29,  50,  66. 

Parole  of  prisoners,  312. 

Patents,  191. 

Patron  saints  of  gilds,   171,   175-9, 

189,  192,  203. 

Paved  roads,  29,  50,  62,  72,  75. 
Peddlers,  396-7,  493- 
Pei  Hai,  61. 
Pei  Ping  Fu,  48. 
Pei  T'ang  Cathedral  41,  374,  512. 

Church,  40,  338. 

Church  Survey,  335-67,  497~5io. 
Peking,  area  of,  60,  413 ;  capture  of, 
46,  49;  founding  of,  44;  lo- 
cation of,  51 ;  siege  of,  49. 

Athletic  Association,  239-41. 

Athletic   Club,   241. 

Chamber    of    Commerce,    212, 
458-61. 

Christian  Student  Work  Union, 
42,  386-7. 

Convention,  58,  378. 

Educational  Society,  156-7. 

Electric  Light  Co.,  219. 

Hankow  R.  R.,  54,  289. 


Peking,  Mukden  R.  R.,  54,  289. 
Orphanage,  287,  304. 
Pavilion,  235. 
Suiyuan  R.  R.,  54,  289. 
University     (Gov.),     31,     128, 
131, 133-4, 158, 161-2, 289, 422. 
University    (Mission),    32,    42, 
136,  239-40,  381-3,  386,  391, 
402. 

Water   Co.,   31,    121,    167,   219, 
286,  325- 

Pensions,  Manchu,  97,  273,  353. 

Persons,  per  house,  96,  271,  328-9, 

413,   489,   496. 
per  room,  357,  505. 

Pettus,  W.  B.,  384. 

Philadelphia  population,  96,  99, 
105-6,  413-5. 

Philanthropy,  38,  264-306,  486-7. 

Physical  education,  241,  389. 

Physicians,  31,  77,  85,  114,  118. 

Pig  Market,  324. 

P'in  Er  Yuan,  287,  304. 

Pittsburg  population,  96,  339,  413-4. 

Playgrounds,  36,  43,  399- 

Plays,  theatrical,  155,  224-5. 

Plural  wives,  259-60,  518. 

Police,  38,  59,  66-7,  70- 1,  75-86,  91-3, 
112,  114-19,  122-6,  134,  147, 
174,  196,  200,  216-8,  226-7, 
233,  236,  242,  248,  260-3,  268, 
275-81,  286,  295,  298-300, 
302-3,  318,  353,  406-11. 

Police,  board,  29,  66-7,  75-7,  80,  91, 
114,  124,  157,  248,  286; 
Board  of  Health,  29,  84-5, 
114-5;  brothel  regulations, 
477-9;  building  permits,  84; 
and  business,  34,  200,  216- 
18;  censorship,  83,  226-7; 
census,  29,  39,  91-4,  96, 
99,  101,  109,  1 12-3,  321,  374, 
412-4,  416,  488-96;  districts, 
29,  59,  77,  96,  99,  US,  407-8, 
412,  417,  486;  examiric.tion 
of  stores,  83;  expenditures, 
79,  408-9;  and  the  gilds,  34, 
169,  174,  200,  216-8;  half- 
day  schools,  33,  85,  132, 
147;  hospitals,  118,  407, 
409;  insane  asylum,  85, 
126;  institutions,  29,  85, 
126,  285,  290,  292,  295,  298, 
302,  407,  409;  number  of, 
29,  77-8,  406-7;  organiza- 
tion, 76-8,  406-7;  poor  re- 
lief, 268;  poorhouse,  297- 
300,  407,  409;  and  prosti- 


534 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


tution  248-9,  260-3,  407-9» 
477-85;  regulations,  84,  114, 
123,  216-8,  226,  233,  248, 
261,  471-4,  477-85;  relations 
with  military  guard,  70; 
rent  of  toilets,  123 ;  salaries, 
79,  408;  schools,  33,  77,  80, 
85,  132,  134,  147,  407,  409; 
street  cleaning  and  light- 
ing, 83,  124,  372,  409;  tax 
regulations,  472,  477-9. 

Politics  and  business,  164. 

Pool  and  billiards,  35-6,  234-5,  238, 
389,  475- 

Poor,  38,  268,  270,  329,  395,  496; 
business  of,  329,  496;  per- 
sons per  house,  329,  496; 
relief,  38,  197,  264-306,  394, 
487;  religion  of,  329,  496; 
sex  of,  270,  329,  496. 

Poorhouse,  43,  80,  85,  297-300,  395-7, 

407,  409,  499. 
Five  Nations,  296. 
Women's,  340,  349,  499- 

Population,  30,  Qi-H3»  4*2-16; 
American  cities,  30,  94-°6, 
99,  102-6,  no,  116,  247,  339, 
346,  355,  413-5,  504;  density, 
30,  04,  271,  326,  413;  for- 
eign, 30,  111-12;  growth  of, 
947  113,  413;  in  industry 
and  commerce,  163;  T.  S. 
K.  district,  39,  326,  488. 

Porter,  L.  C,  239. 

Poverty,  38,  40,  264-306,  329,  486-7, 
496;  and  Confucianism,  330. 

Po  Yun  Kuan,  46. 

Prayer  wheels,  369. 

Preaching,  prison,  312,  318. 

Presbyterian  Mission,  137,  318,  378, 
381,  384-5,  387,  40i,  513,  515. 

President,  The,  29,  66,  279. 

President's  office  and  Octroi,  213. 

Prices  fixed  by  gilds,  34,  100. 

Primary  schools,  129-30,  132-3, 
138-9,  141,  38i,  420,  422,  515. 

Princeton  University  Center  in 
China,  391. 

Prisons,  39,  70,  307-20;  death  rate, 
316;  education,  312,  317; 
employment,  311,  315-7;  es- 
capes, 316;  lectures,  312; 
preaching,  312,  318;  sani- 
tary conditions  of,  39,  308, 
313,  3i6-7;  schools,  312, 
317;  sentences,  309,  314, 
316;  staff,  39,  313,  3i6; 
work,  308,  311,  315-7. 


Prison,  Ching  Chao,  70,  317. 

Extension,  316. 

First  Peking,  310-15. 

Hsien,  70,  309. 

Model,  39,  70,  304,  3<>7i 

Old  style,  39,  307. 

Reformed,  39,  70,  307. 

Second  Peking,  315-6. 

Prisoners,  ages  of,  315,  318;  crimes 

of,   309,  314,  317;   number 

of,   308,   314-7;    parole   of, 

312;    punishment    of,    309, 

312;      Relief      Association, 

319;    reward   of,   313,  317; 

wages    of,    308,    311,    317; 

women,  309,  313. 

Probationers,      church,      362,      508, 

513-4. 

Profit  sharing,  gild,  184. 
Prostitutes,  37,  246,  333,  477;   for- 

eign, 247;  rescue  work  for, 

3.8,   261-3. 
Prostitution,    37,    242-263,    477-85; 

clandestine,    247  ;    licensing 

of,  37,  77,  80,  246,  407,  409; 

and      newspapers,      254-5  ; 

questionnaire,      517;      and 

recreation,  36,  223,  226,  231, 

234,    239,   243,   251,   255-6; 

regulations      for,      477-8o  ; 

taxes,  73,  249,  479-8o;  and 

theatres,  226,  251,  255-6. 
Protestant     churches,     42,     378-80, 

400-1,  513-4. 
Missions,  25,  42,  137,  318,  378- 

9i,   513-15. 
Schools,    32,    42,    136-7,    381-4, 

514-5. 

Protestants,  42,  328,  380,  489,  513-4. 
Provincial    gilds,    35-6,    224,    232. 
Government,  66. 
Schools,    130. 

Public  health  education,  119,  308. 
Public  libraries,  33,  153-6. 
Punishments,   gild,    173,    192;  insti- 
tutional, 291,  298,  303,  309, 
312;  prison,  309,  312. 

Q. 

Questionnaires,  337,  517-21. 


R. 

Race,  97,  341,  408. 
Racing,  horse,  35,  229. 
Railroads,  54  221,  289. 


INDEX 


535 


Rainfall,  31,  52,  405. 

Reading  rooms,  newspaper,  33,  148, 
151,  154-6,  428. 

Recreation,  35,  223-41,  361,  387, 
475-6,  508;  centers,  238-9; 
hours,  225,  234-5,  238-9;  in- 
stitutional, 288,  291,  296, 
309,  313;  and  prostitution, 
36,  223,  226,  231,  234,  239, 
243,  251,  255-6. 

Red  Cross,  American,  294. 

Red  Cross,  Chinese,  294. 

Red  light  district,  242. 

Rees,  Dr.  W.  H.,  383. 

Reform  Bureau,  International,  325, 

378,  513- 

School,  77,  85,  295-6,  304,  407. 
Society,  Buddhist,  125,  370-2. 

Reformatory,  Women's,  260-1. 

Reformed  Prisons,  39,  70,  307. 

Relief  Association,  women's  and 
children's,  401. 

Relief,  Catholic,  374;  community, 
394;  gild,  197,  437;  indoor, 
38,  267,  283-306,  395-7;  in- 
stitutional, 38,  267,  283-306, 
395-7 ;  Mohammedan,  372, 
373;  outdoor,  38,  264-8, 
276-85;  poor,  38,  197,  264- 
306,  394,  487;  private,  264, 
267;  public,  264. 

Religions,  40-2,  328,  368-92,  489,  496, 
511-6. 

Religious  education,  389. 

Work,  41-2,  368-92,  511-6. 

Renaissance  Magazine,  160. 

Movement,   25,   33,   86-90,    158- 
62,  428. 

Rent,  40,  269,  355,  504. 

Rent,  per  room,  356,  504. 

Proportion  of  income  for,  356, 

504-5- 

Renting  by  foreigners,   112. 
Republic  established,  50. 
Rescue  Home  (see  Door  of  Hope). 
Residence,  length  of,  342,  498. 
Residences,   326,  488. 
Restaurants,  35-,  223,  230,  389. 
Returned  students,  158,  359,  369. 
Revolution  of  1911,  50. 
Ricksha  shelters,  282. 
Ricksha  taxes,  73. 
Rickshas,  63,  83,  331-2. 
Right  police  districts,  29,  59. 
Roads,  29,  50,  54,  62,  69,  72,  75,  294. 
Robberies,  82,  411. 
Rockefeller    Foundation,    31,     118, 

385. 


Roman    Catholic    Mission,    27,    41, 

373-4,  512. 

Room,  rent  per,  356,  504. 
Rooms     per     family    and     person, 

356-7,  505. 
Russian  Orthodox  Mission,  27,  42, 

375-7- 


St.  Joseph,  Sisters  of,  42,  374. 

St.  Louis  population,  96,  339,  413-4. 

Sale  of  girls,  37,  244-5. 

Salt  vegetable,  309. 

Salvation  Army,  378,  513,  515. 

San  Hai,  61. 

Sanitary     conditions,     institutional, 

39,  296-7,  299,  301,  308,  311, 

313,  315-7. 
School,  apprentice,   136,   145-7,  218, 

423. 
Bible    Teachers'    Training,    42, 

136,  324,  386. 
Commerce    and    Finance,    137, 

v.    38i,  389,  39L 

Kindergarten  Training,  42,  137, 
324,  386. 

Language,  North  China  Union, 
42,  383-4. 

Midwives,  119,  134. 

Nurses'  Training,  42,  119,  136, 
384-6. 

Physical  Education,  241. 

Reform,  77,  85,  295-6,  304,  407. 

System,  129,  132-3. 

Tuition,  133. 

Schools,  Bannermen,  129,  130,  138, 
420;  for  blind,  27,  32,  146, 
152,  388,  420;  for  boys  and 
girls,  119,  130,  132,  134-7, 
374,  377,  381-2,  385,  389, 
397,  400,  420,  515;  of  cabi- 
net ministries,  66-7,  119, 
132,  134;  Catholic,  374,  512; 
Chinese  Church,  32,  381, 
514;  curricula  of,  131,  145, 
420-1,  423 ;  English,  137,  389, 
514-5;  expenses  of,  133, 
422-3 ;  of  government 
boards,  66-7,  119,  132,  134; 
half-day,  33,  85,  132,  147, 
152,  420;  higher,  31,  118-9, 
130-1,  133-7,  139-40,  381, 
384-5;  industrial,  69,  129- 
130,  145-6,  290,  293,  420; 
institutional,  261,  280-90, 
293,  297,  312,  317;  medical, 
119,  134-6,  384-5;  middle, 


536 


PEKING:    A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


Schools,  middle,  129-30,  132-3,  135- 
7,  289,  381,  421 ;  mission,  32, 
42,  133,  136-7,  374,  377,  381- 
3,  512,  515;  Mohammedan, 
373;  night,  43,  162,  389, 
397-8,  515;  normal,  42,  130- 
134,  137,  140,  386,  422,  512; 
number  of,  130,  132-9,  420, 
512,  515;  orphange,  288; 
police,  33,  77,  80,  85,  132, 
134,  147,  407,  409;  primary, 
129-30,  132-3,  138-9,  141,  381, 
420,  422,  515;  prison,  312, 
317;  provincial,  130;  Rus- 
sian Orthodox  Mission, 
377;  subsidies  to  private, 

133- 

Sea  Palace,  61. 

Second  Peking  prison,  315. 

Secondary  wife,  position  of,  259- 
60. 

Segregated  district,  36,  223,  242. 

Self-support,  church,  364. 

Seminaries,  theological,  42,  136,  374, 
377,  381. 

Senate,  66. 

Servants,  358,  508. 

Service,  voluntary,  365,  510. 

Seven  States,  44. 

Seventh  Day  Adventist  Mission, 
378. 

Sewers,  29,  31,  85,  121-3,  325. 

Sex,  30,  40,  99,  327,  329,  342,  412-4, 
488-9,  496,  498;  and  age, 
105-8,  344,  415-6,  499;  for- 
eign population,  in ;  misde- 
meanants, 81,  410;  relation 
of,  to  industry,  99. 

Sexes,   death  rate,  of,  116. 

social  relations  between,  243. 

Shan  Tang,  283. 

Shantung  award,  87. 

Siege  of  Peking,  49,  59. 

Singsong  girls,  35,  223,  242. 

Sisters   of    charity,   41,   374. 
of  St.  Joseph,  42,  374. 

Size  of  families,  91,  339-40,  497. 

Slaves,  260,  358. 

Sleeper  Davis  Memorial  Hospital, 
384- 

Slums,  39. 

Small  money,  215. 

Social  education,  147-162,  423-28. 

Social  evil,  37,  242-63,  477-85- 
Reform  Association,  38,  263. 
Service,    27,    41-2,    365-7,    387, 

393-402. 
Work,   Peking  center  for,   108. 


Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel,  378,  513. 

Solicitation  by  prostitutes,  254-5. 

Son  of  Heaven,  65. 

Soup  kitchens    (see  Chou  Ch'ang) 

South  City,  29,  49,  56,  58,  64,  223, 

224. 
Amusement  Park,  36,  235,  239. 

Sparrow,  230. 

Ssu,  368. 

Standard  of  living,  170,  185,  268-70. 

Stewart  Evangelistic  Fund,  384. 

Store  taxes,  73,  216,  472. 

Stores,  examination  by  police,  83; 
number  of,  163,  326,  488, 
490-6 ;  regulations  for, 
471-4- 

Story  tellers,  35,  213,  227-8,  238,  475. 

Street  cleaning,  lighting  and  sprin- 
kling, 77,  80,  83,  114,  124, 

Streets,  paved,  29,  50,  62,  72,  75. 
Strike,  general,  89,  196,  211 ;  student, 

88,  218;  thieves,  89,  197. 
Strikes,  166,  170,  195-6. 

Chamber  of   Commerce,   196. 
Student,   expense  per,    133,  422 
Magazines,  33,  90,  159. 
Movement,  25,  33,  86-90,  158-62, 

218,  428. 
Strike,  88,  218. 
Volunteer  movement,  386. 
Work  Union,  42,  386. 
Y.  M.  C.  A,  386. 

Students,  Mission  Schools,  42,  133, 
136-7,  374,  377,  381-2,  385, 
389-90,  512,  515. 
Number  of,  32,  119,  130,  133-7, 
293,  374,  381-2,  385,  389-90, 
422-3,  515. 

Subsidies  to  private  schools,  133. 
Sui  dynasty,  45. 
Suicides,  117,  418-9. 
Summer  palace,  49,  70. 
Sun  Pin,  176. 
Sunday  School  attendance,  41,  365, 

509,  513-4. 

Sunday  Schools,  378,  513-4. 
Sun   Yat   Sen,-  50. 
Sung  dynasty,  45,  153,  372. 
Survey,  Church,  40,  335-67,  497-510. 
questionnaire,  337. 
T.  S.  K.,  321-30,  488-96. 

T. 

Ta  Hsing  Hsien,  69. 

Ta  Hsing  Hsien  prison,  307. 


INDEX 


537 


Ta  Tu,  48. 

Ta  Yuan  Ssu,  45. 

T'ai  Ho  Tien,  55. 

Tai  Hung  Sze,  309. 

T'ai  Shan,  176. 

T'ang,  369. 

T'ang  dynasty,  45,  153. 

T'ao  Lu  Kung,  158,  267. 

Taoism,  41. 

Taoists,  329. 

Tarter  City,  29,  56,  58. 

Taxes,  68-70,  73,  165,  181,  210,  216, 
264,  472,  479;  brothel,  73, 
249;  exemption  from,  74; 
Hsien,  69;  gild,  165,  181 ; 
land,  69,  70,  74;  military 
guard,  70;  prostitute,  73, 
249,  479-8o;  store,  73,  216, 
472;  theatre,  246-7;  vehicle, 

73- 
Teachers,  130-1,  133,  288,  291. 

College,    31-2,    128-9,    134,    162, 
218. 

Japanese,   131. 

Technical  College,  31-2,  134,  218. 
Telegraph  lines,  55. 
Telephones,  55,  219. 
Temperature,  52,  405. 
Temple,  of  Agriculture,  36,  237,  369. 

Of  Confucius,  41,  291,  368,  369. 

Of  Heaven,  36,  41,  48,  240,  263, 
368-9. 

Lama,  369,  389. 

Market     festivals,    213,     228-9, 

389,  475- 

Market  lectures,  33,  152-3,  213. 
Temples,  401. 
Tenney,   Dr.   C.  W.,   132. 
Theatres,  35,  223,  238-9;  and  pros- 
titution, 226,  251,  255-6;  and 
poor  relief,  227,  297. 
Thefts,  83,  411. 
Theological  seminaries,  42,  136,  374, 

377,  381. 
Thieves'  market,  82,  213. 

strike,  89,  197. 
Tibetans,  98. 
Tientsin,  68. 

Tientsin  Pukow  R.  R.,  54,  289. 
Teng   Shih   K'ou   Church,   40,   338, 

393- 

Church  Survey,  335-67,  497-Sio. 
District     Survey,     39,     321-330, 

488-96. 

Toilets,  public,  123,  326. 
Tokio  population,  09,  413. 
Training    School,    Bible    Teachers, 
42,  136,  324,  386. 


Training  School,  Kindergarten,  42, 

137,  324,  386. 

Nurses,  42,  119,  136,  384-6. 
Traffic,  63. 

Treaty  port,   Peking  not  a,   163. 
Ts'ai  Yuan  Pei,  Dr.,  158. 
Ts'ao  Ju  Lin,  87,  325,  394. 
Ts'ao  K'un,  400. 
Ts'ao  Chang,  399. 
Tsing  Hua,  70,  128,  240,  288. 
Tuition,    school,    133. 
Tung  An  Shih  Ch'ang,  77,  213,  275. 
Tung  Chiao  Min  Hsiang,  58. 
T'ung   Hsien,   60,   70. 
T'ung  Su  K'e,  227. 
Twenty-one  Demands,  88. 
Tzu,  369. 
Tzu  Chin  Ch'eng,  56. 


U. 


Uniform  factory,  220. 

Union   educational   institutions,   42, 

119,  136-7,  381-2,  386. 
Medical    College,   48,    118,    136, 

258-9,  384-5,  398,  402. 
Work,  42,  318,  386-8. 
United  Methodist  Mission,  378,  513. 
University,    Government    (see    Pe- 
king University — Gov.) 
Mission  (see  Peking  University 

— Union) 

of  Southern  California,  391. 
of  Wisconsin,  391. 
Unmarried,  109-10,  346-7,  500. 


V. 


Vacations,  gild,   186. 
Vaccination,   119,  286,  308-9. 
Venereal  disease,  37,  126,  258-9. 
"Very  poor,"  38,  268,  270,  395,  486. 
Vital  statistics,  116-7,  347-9,  SOL 
Voluntary  service,  church,  41,  365, 

510. 
Voting,  66,  69. 

W. 

Wages,  actors',  226;  factory,  220; 
gild,  34,  170,  183-5,  431 ;  in- 
crease of,  184,  431 ;  institu- 
tional, 286,  288,  291-2,  294, 
296,  299,  303,  308,  311, 
316-7;  librarians',  154-6; 
police,  79;  prisoners',  308, 
311,  317;  story  tellers',  227; 
teachers',  133,  288,  291. 


538 


PEKING:   A  SOCIAL  SURVEY 


Wai  Ch'eng,  56. 

Wai  Hang,  170,  202. 

Wall  of  China,  Great,  45,  51. 

Walls  of  Peking  cities,  48,  56-9. 

Wan  P'ing  Hsien,  69. 

War,  Board  of,  66,  70,  119,  134  200. 

Wardens,  prison,  39,  313,  316. 

Water-carriers,  120,  167,  430. 

Water  Company,  Peking,  31,  121, 
167,  219,  286,  325. 

Water  supply,  31,  61,  120,  325. 

Wellesley,  391. 

Wells,  31,  120,  325. 

Wen  Li,  158. 

White  Leggings,  78. 

White  River,  51,  53. 

Wickes,  Mrs.  F.  S.,  40,  330,  331. 

Wife,    secondary,    259-60. 

Williams,   S.   W.,   128. 

Wind,  51,  405. 

Winter  Palace,  61. 

Women,  head  of  house,  327;  in 
industry,  40,  220,  327;  med- 
ical education  for,  119; 
place  of,  36,  37,  242;  pris- 
oners, 309,  313. 

Women's  and  Children's  Relief  As- 
sociation, 401. 
Christian    Temperance    Union, 

324,  388. 

College,  42,  136,  325,  381,  391- 
Foreign      Missionary      Society 

(Methodist),  378,  513. 
Industrial  Home,  77,  260-1,  296. 
Industrial  Shop,  43,  397. 
Medical   College,   42,    119,    136, 

384,  386. 
Reformatory,  260-1. 


Work,  hours  of,  185-6,  220,  288,  291, 
295,  209,  311,  315,  354,  503. 

Work,  institutional,  288-9,  291, 
293-7,  299,  303,  308,  311, 
315-7,  395-7- 

Workshop  for  women,  43,  397. 

Workshops    (see  Kung  Ch'ang). 

Workshops,  gild,  173,  175-78. 

Wu  Lien  Teh,  Dr.,  118,  348. 

Wu  P'ei  Fu,  400. 

Wu  Ta  Ssu,  48. 

Y. 

Y.  M.  C.  A.,  42,  120,  236,  239-41, 
3i6,  318,  378,  384,  386-7, 
389-90,  393-4,  399,  402, 
514-5. 

Y.  W.  C.  A.,  288,  361,  378,  384,  390, 
393-4,  399,  402,  514-5. 

Yamen,  68,  69. 

Yang  Lao  Yuan,  300,  304. 

Yao,  Emperor,  44. 

Yellow   River,  51. 

Yen  Ching,  46. 

Yen  Ching  College,  42,  136,  325,  381, 

39L 

Yen,  City  of,  45. 
Yen,  state  of,  44, 
Yuan  dynasty,  46,  153. 
Yuan  Ming  Yuan,  49. 
Yuan   Shih  K'ai,   37,   50,   132,   204, 

215,  246,  293,  369. 
Yu  Chou,  45. 
Yu  Ming  workhouse,  77. 
Yui,  David  Z.  T.,  143. 
Yung  Lo,  48. 
Yung  T'ao  Frank,  236,  263. 


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